Boys und das meer
by TheFleet
Summary: So if girls get Tanks, what do boys get? Ships of course!
1. Meet the team

[Luca Fraken]

"I am off to visit your father." Shiho said to her daughters. "Sorry Miho. It's urgent. Doctors just called telling me that he wanted to see me."

"I understand." Miho said calmly. Her mother hadn't been this amiable to her since... ever. The least she could do was be understanding even if it meant they were going to be putting off making up the lost years with one another.

"Okay then. I'll may not be home until tomorrow. Stay out of trouble."

Much to Miho's surprise, the last sentence seemed to be more directed at her sister. That was rather odd.

"Yes, mother." Maho said, astonishing Miho further. Maho? Trouble? Those two things didn't exactly seem to belong in the same sentence.

"Good." Shiho said firmly as she closed the door. The sound of her car pulling out of the driveway.

"What is she talking about?" Miho asked.

"Nothing. Nothing." Maho said as she watched her car disappear from sight. "Miho, I am going to be going out too, is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"I am sorry to leave you alone. Just another thing, please don't tell mother that I left tonight. As far as we're concerned, I went to bed early. Okay?"

"Yeah. Just why?"

"Please. Just do it." Maho said, almost begging her.

"Well... alright then." Miho said as she saw her sister almost leap up from her chair and put her coat on.

"Thanks."

[10:30 PM. City Docks.]

Maho glanced at her watch again and frowned. She scanned through the crowds of people ranging from fishermen to people who just were passing by. Not even a tell-tale sign. Looking again and taking a small notebook out from her pocket, she read the date. Today was the day wasn't it? There was no way in hell she could have made a mistake. Unless of course... he did... but he never made any... right?

She sighed as she adjusted her coat, the cool breeze of the night making it just somewhat chilly. She sat down on a bench, watching the dark sacred night envelope the shoreline. A beautiful scene no doubt.

"What a nice view." She muttered to herself.

"Not half the nice view as yourself." The voice said. Maho's lips slowly went up.

"Hi Luca." Maho said with a hint of a grin. The young man she faced nodded to acknowledge her words.

"You never seem to get a haircut." Maho said.

"It's always been this way." Luca replied. His hair was about the same length as hers, and got in the way of parts of his face like her's though his tended to stick out slightly unlike her's.

Maho shook her head. That was the ritual of greeting each other. Taking a step closer, she embraced the young man. His blue jacket smelled like the ocean.

"You've gone for too long."

"Practicing and exercises aren't exactly short." Luca replied as he stroked his mustache. He never admitted it, but he was rather proud of his mustache, the way it made him look older. Much older. Hell, he must be the only human being on the planet that likes looking older.

"So... you planning on entering?" Maho asked as she sat down.

"Yeah. Why not? How else?"

"I can try and do..."

"Oh I seen you try. Twice. Your mother's stubborn. If we can't make her like us, we'll make ourselves like her."

"You know why I don't want you to sign." Maho said staring at the ground.

"Why not?" Luca asked. "I'll have plenty of time with you." He grinned, fondling her hair.

"It's just that... what if... something goes wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong. I am an expert at swimming and my friends and I are well-suited for this... we'll be rich and then we can be married. Just as we planned."

"This really isn't about money is it?" Maho said. "You're still a pretty bad liar."

"I am. I am." Luca said as he sat down on the bench. "But... it wouldn't be a healthy relationship if I lied to you easily now would it?"

"I'd still love you even if you did."

"Well... that's probably not true." Luca said cynically. "But... this is my chance. I hope whether it goes one way or the other, it works out in the end..."

Maho felt his fingers straying down to her hand, gripping them tightly.

"The view is beautiful." Luca said. "Everything about it..."

Maho nodded in agreement as she watched Luca gaze dreamingly at the ocean, then back to her.

"I only wish we could spend more time together... speaking of which... how about lunch tomorrow?"

"Sounds good. Mother will flip if I she catches me."

"Alright then. I have a place to be too." Luca said as he turned around and went to the docks, lighting a glow-stick and began waving it, the same while Maho had went to her car though she didn't drive away until she saw him fade away into the distance.

Half a mile away, like the last candle in a void of darkness, a single star of a light twinkled and blinked. Never once did Maho take her eyes off of it until she saw it fade.

Maho slept quite badly that night. Her mind was focused on one thing. The ocean.  
Romantic. Restless. Beautiful. Yet... it made her sick. It made her too sick. Even worse yet was that the ocean was dangerous and treacherous. Only a skilled navigator could go through it. Fraken of course would easily. It was just something else that worried her. She was worried, worried that if she could ever see him again after the tournament. Worried that even if he lived, whether or not if it'd make a difference.

She hoped for the best, her thoughts turning to more positive things. Like what she was going to wear for her wedding and whether or not Fraken would decide to show up in that flamboyant outfit like he always joked he would.

She thought about how her mother was always so dismissive of him. How she never took him seriously and refused to see him. They had been together for more than two years, and not once had her mother even as much as agreed to meet the man that her daughter loved so deeply.

She wondered whether or not if her Father would approve of him if he had ever seen him.

A strange new thought came into her mind. She never really thought of it before, and the new idea was... alien.

"What would Miho do?"

Follow her heart. That's what. But defy her mother? That was unspeakable. But something told Maho, sooner or later, she'll have to make a decision.

* * *

[Marko Krasni]

"Salute otsam ee nashem dedum, Zahvietum eekh fsigdah vierney.

Tepierre nichtoh, nee astanoivit, Pabiedney shark, radnoy straney.

Tiy pliyvee, pliyvee bestrashna,Gordest say viernykh marieye.

Revoluytziye nadezhdah sgoostk vierif sekh luydeye."

There was silence for just a few moments, before it was broken by the thunderous applause and cries for encore. The conductor, a young man gave a deep bow before the boys cleared the stands on the docks. Some went into the nearby town, others stayed on the docks, a few of them disappeared into the hatches of a Typhoon-Class missile submarine. Most of them however, helped with the cleaning up process much to the delight of those who had originally been hand-picked to clean up the place.

Marko, the conductor stayed where he was as he shook hands with various people and posed for a few pictures. This would take about half an hour of his time, all the while, he tried to make his way past the throngs of people. He was looking for someone... and unfortunately, that someone was rather difficult to spot in a crowd. Thankfully, HE wasn't too hard to find in a large group of people. He may not be THAT tall, but he was still tall enough to stick out.

The young man glanced around everywhere, unable to find who he was looking for. Throwing his shoulders up, he found a place on the podium, right in the deepest mob of people which he had sought to avoid, and took a good view.

"Marko!"

He couldn't miss that voice anywhere. Like a shark catching the scent of blood, he located it's source right at the edge of the crowd, which was like trying to push through a solid brick wall, yet somehow... he managed.

"Ma petite bien-aimée." Marko said as he planted a kiss on the top of Katyusha's head.

"I always hated that nickname." Katyusha said irritably. It was the one thing in French she understood. He had first called her that two years ago, and was told that it was an affectionate term for "loved one" in French. It was only later did she realize it meant "little sweetheart". She wouldn't have minded it so much, if the word "little" wasn't in it. It also made her rather... alert to what other things Marko had been calling her in languages she couldn't understand.

"Yeah. I know you do." Mark said as the two crept away from the crowd. "Too many people here."

"You know... you're all getting really good. Maybe you should start singing instead. We could sing together!"

"Perhaps later." Mark said. "Or never. You know how much I hate singing."

"But you're so good at it!"

"There's a reason I'd rather conduct. I hate the sound of my voice." Mark said as they arrived at an apartment. Katyusha took out her keys and opened the door for them. "Hate performing in front of people too."

"You're voice is beautiful. Like mine!" Katyusha said.

"I was watching the match if that's what you're talking about." Marko said. "Quite the song."

"Thanks! We still lost though..."

"I saw. I saw. But frankly, I couldn't care less... so... is there anything else I should know?"

Katyusha nodded.

"You know the senior citizen's home?"

"What about it?"

"My...um...my grandparents...well...they live there."

"And?"

Katyusha shook her head sadly for a moment before regaining her composure.

"Some... for some stupid reason... they're tearing that place down and building and building a nightclub. A NIGHTCLUB! Why? Because the town needs money, and some rich businessmen out there is now paying the town so they could start business here. Here! At the expense of our fathers and forefathers... it's... it's wrong! Has everyone forgot the covenant we made with the past? Without fathers and their fathers behind them? This is an insult! Not to their memory, to their own physical beings! We can't let this happen."

"It won't happen." Marko said. "Because I won't let it happen. My grandfather lives there too. I'll be sooner damned than know that they'll kick him out for a goddamn club... is that all?"

Katyusha nodded. "It is." She had begun smiling all of a sudden.

"Good. Today was a good day." Marko said.

"Let's make tonight a better one." Katyusha giggled as he tugged at Marko's shirt.

* * *

[James "Horace" Nelson] [Edward "School" Nelson] [Charles "Ace" Nelson]

"Just what the doctor ordered!" James said as he took a deep sip of tea. Next to him were his two twin brothers, Edward and Charles.

"I am glad you love it!" Darjeeling said as she ate a piece of cheesecake. "What about you two?"

"It's great!" The two said at the same time. "Best grub we've ever had!"

"Did you bake this yourselves? Because it might just be..."

"Putting everything else to a bally shame!"

Darjeeling started laughing too. She couldn't help it. They probably couldn't help it either. It was just way too funny. What probably made it funny was that sometimes, they end up wanting to say the exact opposite things that was on mind. Thankfully for Darjeeling's cooking skills, this wasn't the case as of now.

"So... how did the tourney go?"

"We managed to make it to the semi-finals." Darjeeling said. "Kuromorimine. Always Kuromorimine. Now speaking of tournaments, aren't you three entering one yourselves?"

"Aye. Naval war games. Everyone loves watching those. Best of all? We'll have enough money to feed Edward all the chocolate he dreams of eating."

"Hey!"

"But... isn't it dangerous?"

"Isn't tankery dangerous?"

"But... tankery... I can't remember the last time we had any serious accidents. In the naval games... people die pretty commonly."

"Well most of those people are pretty awful swimmers. Thankfully we know exactly how to stay afloat!" Charles replied. "Except Edward. He eats way too much chocolate for his good."

This brought a few ripples of laughter, Edward looked the same and weighed the same as his two brothers, which really made one wonder if Charles was joking about all three of them, or if he was just being Charles.

"Well... even then... what makes you so sure? Accidents happen."

"Don't talk rubbish. Nothing like that will ever happen to US. Why if Charles as much as looked like he was going to go overboard, I would probably chain him to the deck!"

"Yeah... you can now remain a good ten meters away from me at all times now." Charles said as he scooted over right next to Assam. "Why there lass... I hope you don't mind if I sit here."

"Of course I don't." She giggled. "Hey... so if you do win, what do you three plan on doing?"

"We got the ultimate team. It's not an if. It's a when."

"Ultimate team? Can you say a word or two about it?" Darjeeling asked.

"Of course! James here captains a Colossus! You do know what that is... right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Edward took a class M. Charles pilots a spitfire!"

"A spitfire? That's interesting... so... about this team though... who's the head honcho?"

"He's an American called Douglas. Real great chap he is... also a billionaire..."

"So... why's he entering?"

"Who knows? All I do know is that Charles makes my head spin every time he flies. All I know is that we're going to win this! Say Darjeeling, I heard this new place opened up downtown, some folks say it's got the best grub in all of Liverpool. Want to give it a try? All six of us could go. It'd be a night out!"

"I think we have the time. But can you tell me more about Douglas?"

"Well... first off... he prefers Doug."

* * *

[Douglas Smith]

"I always dreamed of eating here." Kay in a lovely night dress said as she ate a spoonful of soup.

"And now, a dream comes true." Doug said smiling widely. "I always dreamed of eating here... with you."

"Oh... you..." Kay said blushing. Leaning over the table, she planted a kiss on his head. "Mua."

"The view is the best thing about this joint." Doug said as he looked out the massive glass window. "Just look at the ships out there. Every single one of them!"

"I know. They're all pretty sweet looking. But... hey... is that you're ship?"

Sure enough. A large Montana class passed by in their view. The mighty battleship looked fit enough to take on the world itself.

"Sure is. That class of ship is special..." Doug said as he stroked his chin. "They say that only Yamato could have outclassed her. Too bad she never got a chance to fight... until now..."

"You know... why are you entering the tournament? You're quite the rich boy already. Dad's got enough money to give his son something that shouldn't even be available."

"I just play for fun."

"Oh really?"

"Okay. Not for fun. Yeah. I think I want about ten million dollars in my pocket. But... can we leave it at that I want the money?"

"No. Because you could probably afford sponsoring some of these tournaments. Hell... I could of sworn I saw the name of your dad's company during the commercials a few months ago in the tankery tournaments."

"Okay. Can we leave it at that I am not comfortable at answering?"

"Oh fine." Kay said rolling her eyes. "So... you still..."

"Yeah."

"Okay." Kay said blushing deeply. "I wonder how my parents will react."

"They'll proudly be happy. I know my dad would be." Doug said.

"So what's your plan for all of this?" Kay asked after a while.

"You see... most fleets that entered the contest field about ~20 warships. Our fleet only has 5 ships."

"That doesn't sound too good of odds to me."

"Trust me. It's quality over quantity for us. I think I got the best captains there are! We all met at a convention when we were younger. Been pals ever since."

"That's nice. When is the tournament?"

"Next week." Doug said with a grin. "We're scheduled to meet then."

"Well... best of luck to you then." Kay said. "I'll be watching."

"Thanks. By the way... about that tank tournament."

"Yeah?"

"Is there a reason you only took four tanks with you? I am certain Alisa wouldn't have gotten sodomized if you took all of them."

"Oh... well... let's just say we were compensating for something." Kay replied. "And as you would say, I WOULDN'T BE COMFORTABLE ABOUT TALKING ABOUT IT!"

The couple burst into laughter, earning some rather awkward glances from the other patrons in the restaurant. The awkward staring lasted for about a few seconds, before everyone else went back to what they were doing, some chuckling at the young couple who were rather entertaining.

"Oh well." Doug said as he looked around. "I am just going to say, it's going to be great!"

* * *

**Okay. If you seen "The hunt for Red October" I am certain you know exactly who Marko happens to be named after. In addition, the song they sang at the beginning was "Hymn to Red October" which is essentially the opening cover to the movie. One of the lyrics being "Hail to our fathers and forefathers. We remember our covenant made with the past" which was exactly what Katyusha was referring to when she talks about "covenant made with the past." **

**A few things to keep in mind.  
Because the Typhoon class submarine wasn't an WWII era warship, it's going to have a new balancing act. It's missiles being not as... potent as it was during it's time. [Hymn to red October here: **** watch?v=rPsL2WVhFCc&list=PLfngU1o_ZSdCr8jQNBEz6vheEGmVRPJoA&feature=mh_lolz] **

The Montana class battleship was never actually built, but it's plans indicated that only Yamato class battleships were heavier in both armor and firepower. **More chapters to come. Reviews are appreciated as usual. **


	2. Marko Krasni

"Why must you do this to me?"

"Shut up and keep moving." Katyusha said. "The view up here is great!"

"Where's Nonna when I need her?" Marko asked as he supported Katyusha, making sure that she was perfectly balanced on his shoulders. On the bright side, she was rather light and easy to carry around. On the dark side, he now had the misfortune of having to carry Katyusha right through a herd of schoolgirls. He thanked his lucky stars that none of his friends were around. Because right now, he wanted nothing more than to crawl down a hole and disappear forever.

"And we're here!" Katyusha said as she was let down by Marko. "Here it is!"

"It's just that T-34 you keep sending me pictures of... what's that noise?"

Silence.

"Katyusha? What's..."

She was gone. Marko looked around in disbelief. But before he could react, he felt something him in the back of the head.

"What the?

The moment he turned around, he saw a literal hailstorm of snowballs right before he got smacked across the face with said hailstorm.

"Welcome to the club comrade!" A female voice shouted. "Hope the welcoming wasn't too rough on you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Marko said rolling his eyes as he got up and was face to face with the mischievous grin on Katyusha's face. "You love making me look like an idiot do you?"

"I do."

"Well. That's why this works out just great." Marko said as he wrapped his arms around Katyusha like she was some sort of stuffed animal. This time, it was Katyusha who wanted to crawl down a hole and never be seen ever again. Only made worse by the fact that EVERYONE got to see this.

"Revenge is so sweet." Marko said as he fondled with Katyusha's hair, much to her further embarrassment. "Alright, if you want to do something terrible to me, now the time."

"Alright anything?"

"Sure!"

"Okay. Sing!"

"Wait what?!"

"Sing! You know that song you and your friends sung yesterday? Do an encore! Just for us!"

"Dear god..." Marko almost whimpered. He watched as a few dozen set of eyeballs all turned to him. Clearing his throat, began.

"Holodna hmoora. Eemruchnoh v'doosheh

Kak mohg znat ya shtoh tee oomriosh?

Do svidonia, byehreg rodnoy

Kak nam troodnag pridstahvit shtoh eto nyeh sohn.

Rodina, dom radnoy,

Do svidonia Rodina.

Ay. Avepakhod, avepakhod, nass val nahmarskaya zhdyot nyehdazh dyotsyah.

Nass zah vootmarskaya dah, ee preeboy!

Salute otsam ee nashem dedum

Zahvietum eekh fsigdah vierney.

Tepierre nichtoh, nee astanoivit,

Pabiedney shark, radnoy straney.

Tiy pliyvee, pliyvee bestrashna,

Gordest say viernykh marieye.

Revoluytziye nadezhdah sgoostk vierif sekh luydeye.

Salute otsam ee nashem dedum

Zahvietum eekh fsigdah vierney.

Tepierre nichtoh, nee astanoivit,

Pabiedney shark, radnoy straney.

Tiy pliyvee, pliyvee bestrashna,

Gordest say viernykh marieye.

Revoluytziye nadezhdah sgoostk vierif sekh luydeye.

V'oktyabreh, v'oktyabreh,

Rahpar tu ium miy nashe pabiediy.

V'oktyabreh, v'oktyabreh,

Novie meeir fahli numnashy dehidiy."

He braved at least a bajillion tidal waves in the past before. There was nothing, NOTHING like the tidal wave of noise that hit him. The cheers and screams that made yesterday's applause sound like whispers in comparison.

"That was so good!"

"Do it again!"

"That was amazing." A tall girl with beautiful flowing black hair said. "I thought I could sing."

"Yeah. I heard you during the tankery tournament. You're better than me."

"Really? You really know how to do it well."

"No, no. My voice is bad. Everyone just tells me it's good just to make me feel better. I know it."

"Hey... Marco!" Katyusha said tapping a foot impatiently.

"Oh... right." Marco said as he picked up Katyusha and placed her on his shoulders. "Alright. So... what do we do next?"

"You promised you'd stay and play a few rounds of tankery with us..."

"Oh... right!" Marco said grinding his teeth, wanting to almost chew on his tongue. "Let's get over with this."

"We'll be filming this too!"

"Katyusha... what have I ever done to earn this?"

"Every one of those nicknames you have for me?"

"Oh... right..." Marco said, now grinning mischievously. "Petite."

* * *

After about an agonizing three hours for Marco, and three really enjoyable hours for Katyusha, the two finally were found at the edge of a frozen lake, Marco had just hammered a hole in the ice and readied his fishing rod.

"My grandfather taught me how to fish." Marco said as he put his rod down the hole. "So relaxing after a long day."

"It was pretty fun." Katyusha giggled as she wrapped herself around her boyfriend.

"Maybe for you but not for me. At least you won't humiliate me in front of my friends."

"I would never." Katyusha said, still embracing Marko tightly. "I could always use a guy like you by my side."

"Oh gee thanks. That really makes me feel like we're on equal footing." Marko said sarcastically as he got a bite. He reeled his catch in, placing the fish inside a bucket.

"Oh we always are! One day I am sure you'll come home from a long day of work... or whatever it is you do, and I'll have supper right ready for you!"

"That will be the day I think you decided you wanted to murder me over some fight we had." Marko joked. Katyusha's cooking was AWFUL.

"And that's why you'll do the cooking too!" Katyusha giggled, watching as Marko caught another fish. "That's a nice catch..."

"It is. Want to try?"

"I can't fish." Katyusha said in a way that would make one think not knowing how to fish was like she couldn't count with her fingers.

"Here let me teach you." Marko said as he slid over and handed her the rod. "Oh... just wondering, what do you plan to do with the video?"

"Well... years later, I think we'll watch it over again, and you can admit how much fun you actually had."

"Yep. I can tell our children later on that their mother loved to make me look like an idiot."

"How many times have you called me small using languages I don't understand?"

"Yeah... hey... that's nice!" Marko chuckled as Katyusha reeled in a sizable fish. "Are we set?"

"Sure. Let's take them home and roast them... or whatever it is you do."

"Alright... need a ride?" Marko asked.

"Not this time." Katyusha smiled. "You'll just have to carry the things."

"Typical." Marko muttered as he got all the things.

* * *

"Promise you'll carry me around tomorrow too?" Katyusha asked as they sat around the remains of their dinner.

"Alright, I promise."

"Good. You're the one person that's actually taller than Nonna. It's a nice view."

"And thankfully, you don't weigh much." Marko muttered underneath his breath.

"By the way, we're going for breakfast tomorrow with Nonna and the others."

"How about now humiliating me then?"

"Alright, I'll think about it."

They both broke out laughing.

"You know you love being made a fool of." Katyusha teased.

"Just like you love it when I belittle you of your height?" Marko teased back, placing his hand on Katyusha's head.

"Yeah." Katyusha mumbled. He was one of two people who she allowed to get away with that.

"I have to work now." Marko said as he gazed at his watch. Going to his bag, he took out his laptop. "Mind not disturbing me?"

"Okay." Katyusha said. "I'll be going to bed soon. You better be joining me later."

* * *

**I guess one could say that I am compensating for something when I wrote this chapter. Yeah. I am. **

**So really, the point of this chapter wasn't really to speak of any backstories, but just to explore one of the few relationships that were hinted at. This one, being between Marko and Katyusha. My plan is to explore all the relationships in the first chapters, since the first chapter served as a fairly bad introduction. **

**Okay. As normal, GIVE ME REVIEWS...**

**Hopefully the OCC isn't an issue in this chapter. I decided to start with Katyusha because IMO, she's the character I have the least trouble with when it comes to anything Character related. **

**Oh yes. Prepare for even MORE "Hunt for Red October" references. Speaking of which, I think it's time I explained a few things, which I would probably never do in an actual story because I HATE "telling". **

**Because a Typhoon-class submarine is pretty much better in pretty much every aspect than any WWII submarine and would probably Solo and entire fleet, the Typhoon class that Marko uses during any of the matches has reduced range for it's torpedoes and missiles, and they are not guided, instead, the crew has to manually target the weapons. Dive depth is also reduced, as well as speed. The idea of the Typhoon is now to be used as a support type of bombardment vessel, still outranging the Montana, but only to the point where it'll only make a difference if someone overlooks this advantage. Any AA capabilities the Typhoon has is also gone because considering the planes that anyone else is using, it'd be like hunting bunnies with a hydrogen bomb. **


	3. Doug Smith

"Hey dad! I am home... so what did Mr. Jones say?" Doug asked as he stumbled into his Father's office.

"Well... he said yes!" Barry Smith said as he cleaned out his office space. "Good luck Doug! I know you'll probably win!"

"And you better!" An elderly woman croaked as she walked into the room. "Your grandfather would have definitely wanted you to!"

"Hey Mom." Barry said cheerily to his elderly mother. "Good to see you awake!"

"Awake?! I was always awake?! It should be you that we have doubts about! Look at you! You know, I pity your dad Paul, he's probably spinning in his grave right now over the fact his son isn't a winner like he was!"

"Mom... I never lost once. I won five tournaments in a row..."

"Listen to you talk. Paul won Twenty-six before he inherited the company! Twenty-six! And you still call yourself a winner! What about the last match too?! That certainly wasn't a win!"

"Hey, it wasn't a loss either!" Barry chuckled as his butler brought him his a cup of coffee. "Doug. You up for this son?"

"You bet! I got an email from Mom telling me good luck! She also wants me to tell you she wishes she'd back soon, but... you know."

"Yeah... yeah... work and all. I understand." Barry replied. "I just wish she'd come more, you know?"

"Yeah. I do know. I miss Mom too."

"And I miss those days when your father and my son was a real man with muscle in his body and spirit in his eye than some phony in a suit!"

"Really Mom?"

"I swear son, one of these days, Paul is going to come out of his grave and kick your lazy ass back in a ship!"

"Well, thankfully Doug here is going to be inheriting that department." Barry laughed. "Okay, I am feeling hungry, what'd you guys want for dinner?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"Okay. Lasagna it is then!" Barry chuckled.

"Hey Dad, you still got those old videos of Grandpa's matches?"

"Sure Doug. I'll have them out for you. Need a few lessons?"

"Yeah. That'd be nice. Twenty-six. He must have set a record."

"Oh he did. Still is the record." Barry replied as he went to give his orders to the cook. "You're Grandpa was quite the badass."

* * *

After dinner, Doug went to his room and popped the CD into his laptop. Playing the video, he decided to skip to the finals.

The old name for his father's, grandfather's and forefathers' team was Team Overlord. Back then, they had a massive fleet, hundreds of warships with only about 5% of the men serving on the team were originally from the team. Over the years, Team Overlord had become famous for being one of the teams, open recruiting for the best and brightest. Team Overlord was at the time, the second largest team there was, and number one on the roster.

After the fateful day where his Grandfather had died, Team Overlord had it's decline, losing about 15% of it's strength, morale had went down the tubes after losing their great leader, many believed no one, not even his son could replace him.

The worst part was, it was half-true. Barry was a skilled tactician and a fierce opponent to behold, smashing apart enemy teams left and right yet even he was hardly a shadow of his father and almost lost during his last game, deciding to retire from the game from then on. That was the day Overlord became a thing of the past, it still existed officially, many ad companies and corporations around the world used Overlord as a way of helping their business, whether it was promotions or merchandise, still going on today.

It was debatable whether or not Doug could even get about half of the original team back together. As a result, he had decided to form his own team. His father, had originally offered to get the old team back, after all, he still owned it technically, but Doug wanted to do his own thing, and his father, being the understanding man that he was, respected his decision though commonly called him out on it.

Now, it was up to Doug to carry the title of being the "Overlord of overlords". He wondered what it'd bring him.

Loading up the video, he sat back in his chair to watch the game.

It was a calm night, the waves of the sea hardly moved as the gentle breeze carried the scent of the sea across the world.

The holiness of the silence was broken in the instant that hundreds of missiles flew across the screen landing right in the distance, making massive explosions that made it seem like having day on the ground and night on the air.

"Hit!" The staticy voice announced. "Opening created in the enemy lines."

Pausing the video, and changing where his point of view was with his mouse, Barry took a look back at the former team when it was at it's peek. There seemed to be no end to them. In just his small viewpoint alone, he maybe counted at least a dozen missile cruisers in the one shot alone. Unpausing the video, he continued watching, making sure to zoom in the flagship, a rather familiar Montana-class Battleship. On it's deck, stood two men. A squat, smart looking man with an eyepatch, and another tall, powerfully built one, who looked just like his father Barry.

Normally... standing on the deck on a ship during these matches was probably a terrible idea. Most injuries or deaths in the game came mainly from this, but hardly seemed to bother the pair. In fact, it was almost as if they LOVED being here in the most dangerous spot possible.

The way his grandfather dressed was hilarious. A massive customized suit made for the game that featured a massive collar that blocked all peripheral vision, it was almost like a clown suit. Well... a clown suit that screamed out to anyone that the wearer was not a man to be trifled with.

"All available units advance! SMASH THE ENEMY!"

Okay. Did he just think he loved being in a dangerous position? Because what he was doing now just took the cake.

Moving to the bow of the ship, and making various hand motions, the man ordered every available ship to advance, with his flagship at the lead, both sides shelled each other mercilessly as Overlord made it's advance.

He played around with the different points of view that were available, they really did a good job at recording every possible angle of the battle though he was only interested in one. His Grandfather's ship and what was happening to it. Like a hot knife through butter, his ship charged through the entire enemy fleet, destroying enemy ships left and right, all the while, Paul Smith, fearless admiral of Team Overlord, stood there proudly as his ship broke through the defensive perimeter around the enemy flagship while the rest of his fleet annihilated the enemy armada. High in the skies, a cloud of Mustangs obliterated what remained of the enemy team's aircover, while Avengers rained hellfire upon the enemy fleet. It was over in less than ten minutes.

There was Paul, Doug's grandfather. Standing on top of his ship like he was king of the world. His face did little to mask his pride and his joy. He had won, for probably the tenth time at this point. Though he was intact, his battleship was far from it, being holed in various sections, having a few deck fires, and scorch marks around the bridge area (This was the part of the ship that was completely indestructible to all weapons used alongside with the innermost sections of the ship which had methods of filtering out water.)

"Wow. And I thought Tankery final matches were unimpressive."

Doug almost jumped from surprise.

"Kay? What are you doing here?"

"I came here to see you. No actually, I wanted to borrow some sugar. Why else? I WAS going to get your attention, but I have to say, that was a pretty sweet match."

"It was." Doug said watching his grandfather and his lone companion.

"Just look at those two. They look wicked!" Kay commented. "I bet that's how they won too!"

"Thanks Kay. You know what else is good?"

"What?"

"That man in the eye patch. That's Jonathan Jones. He was my grandfather's best friend and advisor. Now... he's going to work with me in the tournament!"

"So how old is the guy now?"

"Umm... like 70... funny. Gramma always says that he could probably beat up both myself and my dad."

"Hey, maybe you and your dad are both just really wimpy."

"He really is. He only won five times in a row when he was head of Team Overlord... he still owns the team as a matter of fact."

"They've been dormant for like five years though."

"Exactly. I built my own team."

"Well... if you lose... then I am going to say, you should have called in the Overlords."

"Oh you... just like how you should have called in all your tanks?"

"Okay. At least I am not the one who would get beat by a senior citizen in a fist fight."

"Well... yeah I got nothing." Doug said.

"So I win?"

"The annual Doug-and-Kay-who-can-bring-up-the-most-depressing-details-about-each-other contest. Here's your reward."

With that, he kissed her right on the lips before going back to his computer.

"I have to work soon. So... we should probably make best of the time we have. How about a walk outside?"

"Sounds good to me! Want to race?"

"You're on."

* * *

**And now to my favorite part. Explaining stuff and commenting on it. **

**So the last chapter was mainly a crack at how well I could write a relationship between a character and an OC without there being any issues with characterization. **

**This chapter was more of a backstory chapter, a kind of "Meet Doug's family" the kind and helpful father, the somewhat naggy yet hopeful Grandmother, and the Mother who is away because of work constantly. We also get to take a look at Doug's grandfather, the "proud badass heritage forefather that our character looks up too" not anything unlike the way Shiho looks up to her past (If Nishizumi is to tankery, Smith should be to naval games. Though... Smith is probably the most common name in existence.) **

**Hopefully Kay's personality was done better than last time. **


	4. The Nelson brothers

"So... you sure he isn't going to do something balmy and get himself killed?" Orange Pekoe asked as she watched Charles perform some of his tricks in his Spitfire.

"Of course not!" James said as he watched the plane perform a cuban eight. "He's just quite the showoff, but he puts on quite the good show!"

"Yeah...yeah..." Edward mumbled as he popped some chocolate in his mouth, savoring the sugary and creamy taste. "He's coming down now... bloody show off."

* * *

"Jolly good show young chap!" A passing gentleman commented as Charles touched down. A large crowd had gathered to watch him perform his tricks. "I still remember back in my day, I was young enough like you to fly a bally plane!"

"Thank you sir." Charles said. "Where did all these people come from?"

"All to watch you lad!" An elderly woman commented. "I haven't seen flying like that in at least fifty years."

"Well... I am... flattered." Charles said as he made his way to his two brothers. "I would like to say..."

"That's he was only doing what he does best!" James cut in. "And that..."

"It's really nothing much."

"The modesty of a fine young gentleman! And... oh you three.. you're triplets!"

"Yeah."

"Well... I best leave you three fine lads off to yourselves. Good show by the way... too bad I can't stay and watch."

As the last of the crowd walked away, Charles turned to his three brothers and Orange Pekoe.

"So, was that great? Or was that great?" He chuckled.

"It wasn't as good as last time." Orange Pekoe frowned.

"Well... okay... but it was still fantastic what?"

"Well... I'll give you that."

"Yes! You know EVERYONE just thinks I am awesome."

"Dream on." Pekoe said rolling her eyes. "There's Darjeeling and Assam."

* * *

"Looks like we missed something?" Darjeeling asked as the six of them sat around a cafe, all sipping tea.

"Not much. Just Charles being a braggart again." Edward replied.

"Well... I don't see you doing anything too special."

"If I recall correctly, I had the most kills out of all of us during our final match during the school year... actually, I had the most kills out of the whole bloody team!"

"That's only because of MY plan." James said. "So... how bout that?"

"Your carrier and all her planes vs my ship. Come on mate, too scared?"

"Scared of that silly old tub?"

"Silly old tub? I don't think any "silly old tub" could get more kills than BOTH of you combined."

"Can you please explain to me how captaining the fastest ship we have requires skill? And the one that hits the hardest?"

"Requires skill?! You're planes are so tiny! How the heck is anyone expected to hit them? How does that take skill?"

"Other planes?"

"We're out for the count if we get hit once. How do you think we managed to stay alive all the bloody times? Because we're good!"

"Yeah...yeah... I think we should drop this argument... you agree girls?" James suggested.

"We do. You three... you're all like blooming children!"

"That's us. Three peas in the pod...though I wouldn't want to..."

"Share any old pod with Edward. He's getting way too heavy."

The three triplets broke in laughter.

"So what does that make you chap?"

"Also too heavy." Charles grinned.

"You think you three blokes are up for it?" Assam asked as she took another sip of tea.

"We got quite the team."

"Did you mention you had the smallest team?"

"Yeah. Only five ships. We're up for it. The admiral is a fine chap. He knows what he's doing. His blooming ship is also a monster! I've seen it go through entire fleets by itself!"

"That must be a relief for you." Orange Pekoe commented. "Though... I can't imagine only five ships winning the finals."

"I never knew you watched the games." James commented.

"Oh I did. Last years finals had like a hundred from both sides! How are you going to win against that?"

"I am sure our friend has a plan."

"Well. We're all glad for you three that it'll work out." Darjeeling said.

"And we're glad that you think so!" James replied. "Now then, I think I need more tea!"

[Later that night]

"Everything all set?"

"Yeah. Got the final touches to the blooming thing..." Charles said as he rolled in a TV. Putting the TV at the other side of the room, he placed a camera on top of the three got back on a couch in the back of the room.

Going on his laptop, Edward finally got the thing to work after about eight tries, the TV screen flashed onwards.

"Well... here we go!"


	5. Luca Fraken

Miho watched Maho with interest, seeing her scan the water vigilantly along the docks. It'd be a wonder if she could find whatever she was looking for. The hustle and bustle from both sea and land made the entire thing not unlike attempting to find a needle in a haystack. The only difference here was that Miho had no clue what the needle was.

"What are we looking for again?"

"Don't worry about it. You'll know when you see it. There's someone coming to meet us, don't be shy."

"Who is it?"

"Well... let's see... he's German, has stupid hair and a mustache. He also dresses like he's from the 19th century and occasionally, will wear the dumbest thing you will ever see."

"Okay? Is this a friend? Someone you're working with?"

"Friend." Maho said. "Remember, if Mother asks, we were out to lunch... which we are."

"Alright then." Miho said. "Hey... the water over there..."

"That'll be him probably." Maho said watching the Type IX jump out of the water. "It is him."

From the top of the submarine, Fraken emerged wearing what could be akin to Otto Von Bismarck's uniform and an expression of such solemnity that Miho thought this person probably never smiled in his entire life. Said Submarine soon arrived at the docks, it's Captain being the first to leave and greet Maho.

"I see you're not late. I hope I am not either." Luca said as he greeted Maho. "This your sister?"

"She is." Maho said, just as serious. "Miho."

"Good to meet you Miho. My name is Luca." Fraken said as he let out his hand. Gingerly, Miho reached for it, noting on how strong of a grip he had. "So... where we headed?"

"I know the best sushi in town. A little introduction to Japanese cuisine?"

"Sounds good." Fraken replied.

* * *

"So Luca, how is everything?" Miho asked. "How's Japan?"

"The food is good, the air is fresh and the cities are much better than Kiel, my hometown." Fraken replied as he awkwardly tried using chopsticks. He gave up after his third try and grabbed a fork, savoring the taste of the sushi.

"School's out for you?" Maho asked with hidden interest.

"It is. I graduated just six days ago. You?"

"Same. What're you going to be when you grow up?"

"I thought you knew the answer. Just like how I know what you will be."

"Someone has to inherit the Nishizumi title." Maho frowned. "That... has been a slight problem..."

"I understand. I read in your letters that it caused a rift between your mother and your sister. At least you two still looked out for each other... nein?"

"Maho did. She helped my friend out when it was necessary." Miho said before Maho could say anything.

"That's nice. Family should always look out for one another." Fraken said again as he bit into another piece of sushi. "The Japanese really know how to make good fish." He commented with a nod of approval.

"Like I said, the best place in town." Maho replied as she looked down at her almost empty bowl of rice. "You got any plans for today?"

"Oh yes... I have to work in about..."

He took out a gold pocket watch and examined it carefully, before placing it back into his pockets.

"Seven hours. Got a meeting with my teammates."

"So we got plenty of time then?" Maho asked.

"We do." Fraken said nodding his head with contained excitement.

"Good! We should show you around!" Miho commented.

"Read my mind." Maho muttered. "Ready when you are."

[Slightly over a year ago.]

"What's wrong?" Fraken asked as he turned around from manning the periscope to see his first mate.

"We're low on water..." The first mate, a chubby man named Hein said awkwardly. His simple mind raced and fought itself over the fact that he really could of worded what he just said much better.

"Already?" Fraken asked with disbelief. "What happened?"

"Our distillation equipment... we need to repair it..."

"Well, tell the Engineers they got one job."

"Yeah... about that..."

"What?"

"We're missing the equipment needed..."

Fraken sighed to himself, accepting defeat on this one, an experience that didn't come very often. His crew were some of the best and brightest from Kiel, yet... even they had their own shortcoming.

But then again, perhaps it was his own negligence that could be the root reason of why they were missing vital tools for a vital machine. Getting up, he turned to the helmsmen.

"Rise. We're going to need to find a way to fix our rather important device."

"Hope they'll be accepting Deutsche Marks." The Helmsman said.

"Who's they?" Hein asked curiously. "And what about Deutsche Marks? We going to the bank or something?"

"No..." The Helmsman said slapping his head. "We're going to see if there's anyone near us and we're going to hope that they have the materials needed, or that they can fix it."

"And what if they don't or can't?"

"Then we're going to be in some trouble." Fraken said as the Type IX rose out of the water. "Claus! I want a sweep of anything within reachable distance!"

"Well, you're in luck Herr captain!" The second mate said as he looked at the screen. "We've got a ship just nearby!"

"Take us there!" Fraken ordered.

[Kuromorimine]

"Good game... good game..." Erika grumbled. "Remember, grace in defeat is also part of tankery. Maho... you're just too good... better than me at least."

"You're not half-bad." Maho replied.

"Guess the name Nishizumi still means something." Erika replied.

"Yeah..." Maho said slowly. Erika took the hint and quickly apologized for not realizing what her words may have actually meant.

"It's fine... it's fine... I know you didn't mean it that way." Maho said. "Hey... Erika, do you see that?"

"See what?"

"That." Maho said pointing over the rails. "It looks like another ship!"

"Another ship? Should we tell someone?"

"Yes... hey... it's hailing us... I think... I think ... it says it wants to meet with us!"

"What kind of ship is it?"

"A... submarine... odd... wonder what they want."

"You know... of the a ships on the sea... it just had to be a girl's highschool." Claus said as they climbed the latter to the top of the submarine. "This is going to be awkward."

"Just shut up and hope that they are interested in German currency." Hein said as he followed.

"I saw the logo, hope they're German."

Hein only snorted impatiently as they climbed to the top of the submarine.

"Boys? Here?" Maho asked as she moved her way through the massive crowds of people. "This is going to get interested."

"I'll bet... think they're any good looking?" A nearby freshman asked hopefully.

"Just move." Erika said as she made her way with Maho to the front. The hatch of the submarine opened revealing a pair of people. A short, squat young man with a cubby head, and a tall, thin one who had a clean shaven head and a face that spoke of intelligence.

"Good day. Our ship has some problems with the filtering. We would just like if you could lend us any engineers or equipment to fix our machine."

And unfortunately... no one understood German.

"What?" Erika asked as she shook her head. "What language is that anyways?"

"No clue... but it's kinda cool!"

"Seriously?" Maho asked. "I think these people need something."

"What is it that you need?" Maho asked to the pair. "We would be happy to assist you."

"What did she just say?" Hein asked to Claus.

"I think that's Japanese... great... we have a problem now..."

"Eh... is there any of you who speak German?"

"Hello? Do you understand me?"

This banter continued rather awkwardly as neither side understood what the hell the other was talking about. This soon stopped when the Captain peeked his head out.

"You two had one job." Fraken muttered impatiently. "What's wrong?"

"We can't understand Japanese... and they don't understand German..."

"Well... you tried something called a common language?"

"Captain... I know they probably know English... but I don't know it..." Claus said apologetically.

"It's fine." Fraken said. "Though... you should've said something." Turning to the crowd of girls he spoke up.

"Anyone here speak English?" He asked in his lightly accented English.

"I do!"

"I understood that!"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Okay..." Fraken said. "See? This works now!"

"You're a miracle worker Captain." Hein said. "Alright... so let's get moving!"

Fraken gave a nod. Turning back to the girls.

"Our craft has some problems with the filtration system... we were wondering if you had any equipment that we could borrow." Fraken said.

"Why? Is something broken?" One of the girls asked.

"No. It's perfectly fine even though they have problems with it." Erika said sarcastically.

"I think we could lend a hand." Maho said in her own rather accented english. "Come aboard... we can work something out!"

"I hope we don't have to pay them when this is done." Hein said to his two friends.

"It's that a Tiger I see?" Fraken asked as they passed by the place the tankery team had just been practicing at.

"It is." Erika replied.

"Tiger II, Pather, Ferdinand, Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger..." Fraken listed as they passed through the field. "Quite the collection your school has ma'am. It has a nice touch. A familiar one at that."

"You're German right?" Maho asked.

"I am. I am quite familiar with all those tanks you have over there. I once got to see the German team play before during the national tournaments and the international tournaments. America beat us."

"In the professional games, the Americans are normally best at what they do since their teams are the best funded." Maho said. "We're here... the tools you'll need are in that warehouse."

"Thank you." Fraken said as he sent two of his engineers inside.

* * *

"2 days?! You're telling me it's going to take 2 days to get that fixed?!" Hein asked angrily. "What the hell is Eric doing?!"

"He knows what he's doing." Fraken said firmly. "We are lucky that it's ONLY two days. Whatever it was, our filtration system was in bad shape. However... it seems we are going to have to remain here for the time being..."

"That's either going to be great... or terrible." Claus commented watching as two girls waved to him. "So... what do we do now?"

"Make the most out of this." Hein said. "I am going back to ship. The football game is on soon."

"He wastes opportunities." Fraken said after he was gone.

"What?"

"The only reason he's first mate is because he's got talent at commanding and almost all the essentials on the ship. He's hardly got sand for brains after that. Good thing I know you can think."

"Captain... are you saying..."

"Yes. You talked about girls a lot when we were younger. This is a good opportunity..."

* * *

Maho watched with disguised interest at the two boys who walked inside the cafeteria. Being the only two male people in the entire room, they naturally caught a lot of attention.

Claus had commonly been teased by the other members of this ship for being a bit of perfectionist, from his perfectly greased hair to his clean shaven face to the smallest details on his coat. Now... it really paid off. He wondered about Fraken, whose hair was about the same length of some of the girls here, and had a tendency to stick out at points. Hopefully these type of girls aren't the ones who are picky about hair.

"The food is free." They heard from one of the girls sitting at a table. The two nodded in acknowledgement with Claus giving a small smile back.

"He smiled! I think he likes me!"

Okay. That comment really made Claus feel awkward... though not half as awkward as the girl who had said it after she realized what she had just said in front of at least a few hundred people.

Fraken moved onwards, carrying about as much emotion as a brick wall and thinking as sharply as he always did. He scanned the room carefully.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Maho stealing a glance at him.

"He has really stupid hair." Erika commented as she saw Luca and Claus both sit down at an empty table, which soon wouldn't be empty anymore in just a few moments.

"He does... he does..." Maho said. Saying that she was staring dreamily at Luca would be incorrect, but the way she was looking at him wasn't the same way one looked at something they deemed "average".

"I like the other one better. His hair looks nice... he's got a nice smile..." Erika muttered.

"I think the one with the stupid hair still looks better. Just look at the way he acts." Maho whispered. "Wait... look away!"

The two bowed their heads down as Claus and Luca both glanced in their direction. They had caught on rather fast... too fast.

"Well... maybe we should do something..." Erika suggested.

"No... I am fine where I am..." Maho said as she quickly exited the room.

Just a few moments later, did Luca excuse himself, leaving Claus surrounded by a few hundred interested people of the opposite gender.

"Yeah... his hair is stupid... his mustache looks ridiculous... and his coat belongs in the 19th century... but..."

"Whoa, if you needed to tell me you really hated me, you don't have to do in private."

Maho almost jumped out of her skin when she turned around.

"Oh... hi..." She said awkwardly. "You know..."

"I do know..." Fraken said cutting her off. Slowly, his hands grasped around hers. "The air is good here on the open seas. The view becomes great... should we take the time to go see it?"

"Yes! Yes!" Maho said. Inwardly, she slapped herself for allowing her emotions to get loose.

* * *

"And take this." Fraken said as he handed her a pair of headphones. "These are some of the best to have ever existed. They'll be really useful during your tankery matches. They can also filter out any sounds you don't want."

"Thanks..." Maho said as she placed the headphones in her pockets. "I suppose... you'll want this."

A gold pocket watch. How fitting for someone who dressed like they were in the 19th century.

"Danke." Fraken said, watching Claus sorrowfully board the ship. "I'll keep in touch. See if we can't meet once a while at port. For now... I wish I'll see you again."

"As do I." Maho whispered in his ear. She never stopped watching the shoreline. For the first time, she saw Fraken in that flamboyant getup that she thought was the most ridiculous thing ever.

Just a black uniform... decorated like some 19th century general and with a long red flowing cape that fluttered dramatically in the wind. He waved to her, before disappearing under the water. She could only smile and wave back.

"Well... that was fun." Fraken said Maho drove him back to the docks.

"It was..." Maho said. "We got to see almost everything I wanted to show you... but it's getting late and you have to work. I need to go home with Miho too."

"Yeah... you think Mother's going to ask where we are?"

"Probably." Maho said. "But... good luck Luca."

"As to you. We'll probably be seeing each other a lot more often."

That was the last thing he said to her once he exited the car. Finding his ship, he quickly got inside to his stateroom.

There, he turned on a laptop on the desk and turned it on.

"Luca Fraken. Signing on."

"Douglas Smith. Signing on."

"Marko Krasni. Signing on. "

"Charles Nelson. Singing on."

"James Nelson. Singing on."

"Edward Nelson. Singing on."

"We're all here?" Doug asked. "Then it's time we begin."

* * *

**Hopefully it was made clear in the beginning, that all the OCs are on the same team. Now that said. The last chapter regarding the Nelson brothers was probably what I personally think the weakest and probably for a few dozen different reasons. One thing to note is that none of them are in any form of relationship with the St. Glorianna girls. **

**So... a slight backstory on how Luca met Maho and how it was sort of a "love at first glance" type of thing for both of them. My goal is that Maho's OCC is not an issue in this chapter as it was in the first one. **

**Regarding the characters introduced.**

**Hein: Luca's first mate **

**Claus: Second mate  
****Eric: Chief Engineer (Doesn't have any dialogue... may or may not be more important later on.) **


	6. To the phillipines

"So I should ask. In the event things go south, we are all prepared?"

He was greeted with a chorus of affirmation. That's one thing out of the way.

"Okay. So I guess I'll get to the chase and leave out any formalities. Not that I wanted there to be any. So, as we all know, our team is fielding five ships to be used in the international tournament. As a result, we are by far, the smallest team attending. Now let me get this though, by no means will we be at a disadvantage from numbers until about the fourth round. Things may begin to go south from there."

"I never knew you to never have a plan." Fraken commented.

"Of course... we'll have a way out. Even then, in our fleet, it's quality that counts and not quantity. During our first match, both teams will only five ships and are limited to only 15 aircraft. As a result, we may actually have an upper hand."

"The less fortunate teams will be the first to get rooted out." Marko commented. "If by chance they make it to the next rounds, they'll be defeated easily."

"As a result, we will have to cross our fingers that we get to play against the larger teams first. I am certain we've all seen last year's finals. Both teams have over one hundred ships. If we had to face that, we'd get eaten alive, no matter what way we're playing... speaking of which, the games are switched around. We'll be playing annihilation, flagships and capture the flag in different rounds. That will be decided randomly as well."

"Alright. So we are a small team, we better hope we get placed against the larger teams first." James said. "Anything else?"

"I am certain that everyone is aware of the rules, but we have to go over them anyways. Marko, your dive depth and speed will be greatly reduced, torpedoes and missiles will lose their range, though they'll still outrange any battleship. Tracking systems on the missiles are removed in the first game and until the last game, we don't get to use them. Even then, they'll be pretty elementary."

"Alright. Knew that." Marko replied.

"Charles, planes. We only get fifteen of them in the first game. You can manage?"

"Of course we can!"

"Good. I'd die of old age if I went to explain everything, but everything you have is within the rules right?"

"Engines, weaponry... models, you name it. Yes."

"Gotcha. Fraken, Edward... nothing much for you and me. We should be good to go. See you all in three days... it'll be a hell of a party."

With that, Doug's screen faded to black as he cut the connection. Same went for every other screen.

* * *

"Vasily! How good to see you!" Marko said happily as his executive officer came to greet him.

"Good to see you Marko!" Vasily replied as he met with his tall friend. "How is everything!"

"Good! Good! I just had breakfast with about a few dozen schoolgirls and I can tell you right now, I think I lost more calories talking than eating."

"They make you sing?"

"No... I see you brought a few hands."

"Aye. Yevgeniy , Gregory, Victor and Melekin. They're here. Got a bit bored of strolling around town. Quite the sleepy neighborhood."

"I agree..." Marko said as he turned around to watch the large crowd of girls heading in their direction.

"Tell me... what was that thing you needed help with?"

"Not looking like the only fool in the neighborhood." Marko replied. Vasily looked behind him and realized what he was talking about.

"This is where we get to do ANOTHER encore?"

"Yes."

"My voice... my poor throat."

"Stop whining. I had to do a solo twice yesterday. I promised them they'd all like this one."

"Well... we're ready Marko." Melekin said. "I want to do this again!"

"That's the spirit." Marko replied as he watched the crowd encircle them, other members of town had joined to see what was going on. "It's song number two by the way."

"Rastsvetali iabloni i grushi,

Poplyli tumany nad rekoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj.

Vykhodila, pesniu zavodila

Pro stepnogo, sizogo orla,

Pro togo, kotorogo liubila,

Pro togo, chi pisma beregla.

Pro togo, kotorogo liubila,

Pro togo, chi pisma beregla.

Oj ty, pesnia, pesenka devichia,

Ty leti za iasnym solntsem vsled.

I bojtsu na dalnem pograniche

Ot Katyushi peredaj privet.

I bojtsu na dalnem pograniche

Ot Katyushi peredaj privet.

Pust on vspomnit devushku prostuiu,

Pust uslyshit, kak ona poet,

Pust on zemliu berezhet rodnuiu,

A liubov Katyusha sberezhet.

Rastsvetali iabloni i grushi,

Poplyli tumany nad rekoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj."

They were met with exactly what they could expect. Thunderous applause.

[About three days later]

"We have arrived at the rendezvous point Herr Captain." Claus said over the intercom. "Surfacing now."

"Gut...gut... Gute Arbeit." Fraken murmured as he opened the hatch of the submarine. His helmet blocked all wind while his cape fluttered like a flag in the wind. He scanned the sea for a while until Hein came up.

"Good day isn't it Captain?"

"Calm seas are always a good day."

"So... where is everyone? Are they all late?"

"Late? Marko has been with us this entire time."

"What?"

Just on cue, the massive form of the Typhoon class jumped out of the water, it's Captain clad in a fur-coat and an ushanka waved to greet them.

"Hello comrades! How is everything?" Marko waved cheerily.

"It's all good!" Fraken cried back.

"Nothing like a good day at sea eh mates?" A radio transmission said. In the distance, two ships could be seen on a course right towards them.

"You got the right pal. Alright everyone, we meet here, and then we go as one to the port. Looks like it's being held in the pacific... about near the philippines."

"Then what're we waiting for chaps? Let's GO!"

"Easy there tiger. One for all and all for one, not every man for himself. Formations everyone... good? Full speed ahead!"

A Type IX Submarine, A Typhoon Class Submarine, A Class M Destroyer, A Colossus carrier and a Montana Battleship all sailed as one, straight into the sunset towards their target.

* * *

"So I should ask. In the event things go south, we are all prepared?"

He was greeted with a chorus of affirmation. That's one thing out of the way.

"Okay. So I guess I'll get to the chase and leave out any formalities. Not that I wanted there to be any. So, as we all know, our team is fielding five ships to be used in the international tournament. As a result, we are by far, the smallest team attending. Now let me get this though, by no means will we be at a disadvantage from numbers until about the fourth round. Things may begin to go south from there."

"I never knew you to never have a plan." Fraken commented.

"Of course... we'll have a way out. Even then, in our fleet, it's quality that counts and not quantity. During our first match, both teams will only five ships and are limited to only 15 aircraft. As a result, we may actually have an upper hand."

"The less fortunate teams will be the first to get rooted out." Marko commented. "If by chance they make it to the next rounds, they'll be defeated easily."

"As a result, we will have to cross our fingers that we get to play against the larger teams first. I am certain we've all seen last year's finals. Both teams have over one hundred ships. If we had to face that, we'd get eaten alive, no matter what way we're playing... speaking of which, the games are switched around. We'll be playing annihilation, flagships and capture the flag in different rounds. That will be decided randomly as well."

"Alright. So we are a small team, we better hope we get placed against the larger teams first." James said. "Anything else?"

"I am certain that everyone is aware of the rules, but we have to go over them anyways. Marko, your dive depth and speed will be greatly reduced, torpedoes and missiles will lose their range, though they'll still outrange any battleship. Tracking systems on the missiles are removed in the first game and until the last game, we don't get to use them. Even then, they'll be pretty elementary."

"Alright. Knew that." Marko replied.

"Charles, planes. We only get fifteen of them in the first game. You can manage?"

"Of course we can!"

"Good. I'd die of old age if I went to explain everything, but everything you have is within the rules right?"

"Engines, weaponry... models, you name it. Yes."

"Gotcha. Fraken, Edward... nothing much for you and me. We should be good to go. See you all in three days... it'll be a hell of a party."

With that, Doug's screen faded to black as he cut the connection. Same went for every other screen.

"Vasily! How good to see you!" Marko said happily as his executive officer came to greet him.

"Good to see you Marko!" Vasily replied as he met with his tall friend. "How is everything!"

"Good! Good! I just had breakfast with about a few dozen schoolgirls and I can tell you right now, I think I lost more calories talking than eating."

"They make you sing?"

"No... I see you brought a few hands."

"Aye. Yevgeniy , Gregory, Victor and Melekin. They're here. Got a bit bored of strolling around town. Quite the sleepy neighborhood."

"I agree..." Marko said as he turned around to watch the large crowd of girls heading in their direction.

"Tell me... what was that thing you needed help with?"

"Not looking like the only fool in the neighborhood." Marko replied. Vasily looked behind him and realized what he was talking about.

"This is where we get to do ANOTHER encore?"

"Yes."

"My voice... my poor throat."

"Stop whining. I had to do a solo twice yesterday. I promised them they'd all like this one."

"Well... we're ready Marko." Melekin said. "I want to do this again!"

"That's the spirit." Marko replied as he watched the crowd encircle them, other members of town had joined to see what was going on. "It's song number two by the way."

"Rastsvetali iabloni i grushi,

Poplyli tumany nad rekoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj.

Vykhodila, pesniu zavodila

Pro stepnogo, sizogo orla,

Pro togo, kotorogo liubila,

Pro togo, chi pisma beregla.

Pro togo, kotorogo liubila,

Pro togo, chi pisma beregla.

Oj ty, pesnia, pesenka devichia,

Ty leti za iasnym solntsem vsled.

I bojtsu na dalnem pograniche

Ot Katyushi peredaj privet.

I bojtsu na dalnem pograniche

Ot Katyushi peredaj privet.

Pust on vspomnit devushku prostuiu,

Pust uslyshit, kak ona poet,

Pust on zemliu berezhet rodnuiu,

A liubov Katyusha sberezhet.

Rastsvetali iabloni i grushi,

Poplyli tumany nad rekoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj.

Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,

Na vysokij bereg na krutoj."

They were met with exactly what they could expect. Thunderous applause.

[About three days later]

"We have arrived at the rendezvous point Herr Captain." Claus said over the intercom. "Surfacing now."

"Gut...gut... Gute Arbeit." Fraken murmured as he opened the hatch of the submarine. His helmet blocked all wind while his cape fluttered like a flag in the wind. He scanned the sea for a while until Hein came up.

"Good day isn't it Captain?"

"Calm seas are always a good day."

"So... where is everyone? Are they all late?"

"Late? Marko has been with us this entire time."

"What?"

Just on cue, the massive form of the Typhoon class jumped out of the water, it's Captain clad in a fur-coat and an ushanka waved to greet them.

"Hello comrades! How is everything?" Marko waved cheerily.

"It's all good!" Fraken cried back.

"Nothing like a good day at sea eh mates?" A radio transmission said. In the distance, two ships could be seen on a course right towards them.

"You got the right pal. Alright everyone, we meet here, and then we go as one to the port. Looks like it's being held in the pacific... about near the philippines."

"Then what're we waiting for chaps? Let's GO!"

"Easy there tiger. One for all and all for one, not every man for himself. Formations everyone... good? Full speed ahead!"

A Type IX Submarine, A Typhoon Class Submarine, A Class M Destroyer, A Colossus carrier and a Montana Battleship all sailed as one, straight into the sunset towards their target.

* * *

**And here's the diverse team that operates diverse ships from multiple countries... from multiple countries... I wonder where have I seen that before? **

**Oh yes... more Hunt for Red October references... CAUSE WHY NOT?! Same roles as in the movie to anyone who's seen it by the way. (Should Vasily get shot? I dunno. I really liked the character...) **

**Probably just like the anime, I think the best way the story would go is for kind of like "The Underdog defeats the champion... though I am also up for something like the son rebuilds his Grandfather's old team. Opinions? **


	7. Barry's last game

"And our first opponent... is Team Hai." James said as he went into the room where they were staying.

"Okay... so not quite what I was hoping for... actually... probably the exact opposite." Doug sighed. "Got any... intel on them?"

"U-boats. They got like six of them. Not surprisingly... something tells me they'll be using all of them."

"What else?"

"Three destroyers and a single battlecruiser. Our Montana can probably solo all their surface ships just using nothing but one of her main guns."

"Probably... but we shouldn't get so overconfident." Doug commented. "The main problem will be the U-boats. All type IIs. Luca, Marko and Edward. They're going to be your problem. I will do my best to handle their surface ships with Charles. James... do your best to stay out of their range."

"Gotcha... but it really shouldn't be much of a problem should it?"

"Of course not. Germany doesn't seem to be too interested in funding some backwater team with no experience. When you told me the team was German, I was hoping we were facing Team Bismarck."

"On the bright side, let's hope that some of the larger teams get paired with each other so they can take each out and save us the trouble."

"Then we better hope that Team Norfolk and Team Yamato get paired on the first round."

"Yeah... they didn't." Charles said glumly. "But it's okay, if they get paired later, good for us. If we get paired with them, I am certain we can take them out regardless."

"You know what happens if either of them make it to the finals... and that's bound to happen... remember last year's finals?"

"Team Norfolk got like a few bajillion ships. And we all know which team has the one flagship that can actually beat Montana one on one."

"Yeah... that's why they're the biggest problems we got. Other than that... it's all good... yeah... no..."

"There are at least four or five teams that will pose a massive threat in the later stages of the tournament. Most of them it's because they have more ships than us... but hey who knows... maybe with luck, they might switch up the rules this years so that we don't have to go against a billion TP boats... god... TP boats..."

"Is it in Tonnage or number? Or both?"

"Not sure yet. Hopefully it's in both."

"Very well then... so what else is there to say?"

"Nothing. Anything that's been worth saying has been said."

"Well, I guess we're done here then. See you all in three days for the briefing. It should be an easy match."

* * *

"Against Team Hai huh?" Barry said to himself as he saw the bracket. "Well... if he doesn't win this..."

"He will Son." His mother said. "I know my grandson will be a champion just like his grandfather! And he'll be a winner just like you were...once..."

"Give me a break." Barry sighed.

"I am certain my husband and your father is restless in his grave as of now over the fact that his son is a quitter!"

"Okay, so that's what I am now? I was a phony in a suit just last week... and I think you said a guy who can't take any hardship the week before that."

"Shut up! Now make me some coffee!"

"And here I am... Forty-five years old, a billionaire, and I still live with my mother and make her coffee every morning." Barry grumbled, not bothering on telling his butler to go do it."

[About ten years ago]

"The storm has decimated our entire fleet."

"What's the good news?"

"The storm decimated their entire fleet too!" Mr. Jones grinned. Though he was about thirty years older than Barry, he only had hints of greying hair at this point during his life. It would take another decade for his hair to finally become the color of snow, but for now, it was an almost shiny black. The one-eyed man proudly stood with his best friend's son on the bridge of the Montana class battleship.

"All guns open fire! Charge at them! Full steam ahead!" Barry barked as the massive battleship opened fire, sending explosions all over the enemy battleship. An Iowa class. It's Captain too, ordered all it's guns to be fired. The ship sat unmoving, it's engines crippled by the side of a mountain that stuck up from out of the water.

"Come on! Keep on firing, they can't take much more of this!" Barry encouraged as his ship kept getting closer and closer. Without warning, there was a massive jolt and everyone found themselves being thrown in various places on the bridge. Thankfully, that was that. Or was it?"

That wave got them pretty close to the Iowa but what else was that one of the main guns had opened fire and hit the mountain sending massive boulders down. None of them actually hit the enemy battleship... but what it did do was send a massive wave that shoved the ship right at them.

The crash that happened holed the damaged Montana beyond repair, yet that same crash also crushed what remained of the exterior hull of the Iowa. At the instant, both battleships became cripple at the same time. Iowa's damage made her go down to the abyss, but she would take Montana down with her.

"Tie! Both teams have been completely eliminated! No one is the winner!"

The loud booing noise echoed within Mrs. Smith's ears for days on end... yet to her astonishment when Barry got home. He was laughing. LAUGHING. He lost the game... and found it funny... somehow.

She was speechless... yet at the same time, she realized how much better her son was at dealing with loss than she was. So much like his father.

* * *

"You planning on seeing the games?" Miho asked her older sister.

"You know of that place downtown?"

"The stadium?"

"Yes. It's the best place to see it happen." Maho said. "Tell you what, you can come with me if you'd like, it's pretty cheap."

"No thank you. I had something with Mother."

"Oh... okay then."

**"**You thinking of seeing Luca?" Miho asked.

"What do you think?" Maho asked rhetorically. "I wouldn't miss seeing him in his ridiculous getup or seeing his hair."

"So... is there anything I should tell Mother?"

"No... nothing. The only thing I would have to worry about is if I come home late."

* * *

**So I guess we can call it a little insight on what had happened that had resulted in Barry to quit the naval games. Admittedly, I was having trouble with coming up with a scenario where both ships would go down at the same time that would end the game in a draw. (I am certain there has been no point in history where a badly damaged ship ended up taking down another ship with it by hitting it... but still...)**


	8. Chapter 8

Empty those tubes!" Hein ordered as the gunners fired once more. There was nothing, save for a suspenseful, long and silent pause. Then, on the sonar, they picked up what could be described as the sound of a submarine being blasted into kingdom come. The boys put a rousing cheer.

"Good shot!" Hein said. "Load some more!"

"Good job Type IX!" Doug said over the radio. "First kill of the round!"

"Our job isn't done yet." Fraken said. "Marko, how are you holding up?"

"First catch of the day is about. To come up!" The Russian exclaimed. "You guys focus on your job, I got a fish to catch!"

"Enemy surface units? Contact yet Charles?"

"Yes!" The pilot in the spitfire replied as his hands danced a tango with the controls. "Those bloody wankers have some heavy flak! Two of my boys got knocked out of the sky! We're going in for another strafing run!"

"Save yourself the trouble, I'll have Montana sink that battlecruiser myself." Doug said. "The escorts?"

"Also giving our flyboys some trouble." Charles said. "I am aborting. Flak! Too heavy!"

"Gotcha guys, okay everyone, Montana is taking the fight to them! Full steam ahead!"

* * *

"Herr Captain! Enemy battleship zighted! Zey, are coming straight for us!"

"Gut...gut... Give our subs the signal."

* * *

"Sonar detects a sub sneaking up on Montana." Hein said as he walked over to Fraken.

"Keep an eye on it. Tell Montana that they have someone trying to sneak up on them. Hail Marko and tell him he can have his second catch of the day."

"At once Herr Captain." Hein said as he went to meet with the radio operator.

"Herr Captain... Vhy aren't ve pursuing?" Claus asked as he put a set of headphones.

"You'll see... But first... Leave that sub alone. Try not to get spotted. I wantto go around it."

* * *

"Looks like she'll need a patching up or two eh mate?"

"Just finish the bloody repairs." Charles said curtly. "Those bloody wankers think they can scratch my plane again? I'll give them the walloping of their lives!"

"Hey Charles! Want me to do you a favor and sink their escorts?" Edward radioed as he passed the Colossus-class.

"Send those blokes to the abyss and I'll buy you some of those Swiss chocolates you love so much!"

"Deal! All right chaps, they've been asking for it!"

The Class-M pushed ahead of the rest of the fleet at high speed, it's main guns opening fire and scoring a hit on one of the escorts causing the ship to attempt to escape.

"Those blighters are trying to run?! After them!"

* * *

"This is really interesting." Barry said as he stuffed his mouth full of popcorn.

"You bet!" Kay replied.

"You think you had enough soda for the day? You've been jumping up and down for the last half hour." Barry chuckled as he watched Kay.

"Heck no! If anything, I need more!"

"The days when was still young and energetic. Help yourself kiddo!"

"You aren't old at all creampuff! You're just lazy!"

"Mom... Can you please just continue watching the game and not make me look like an idiot?"

"Which you exactly are you hippy in a suit!"

"I am certain Dad wore a suit too."

"But wasn't a Hippy! He must be restless in his grave of his right now knowing his son is a hippy!"

"Goddamn it... Kay are you okay?"

"I can't help it! You must be the best family ever!" Kay said as she put her hands to her aching gut which pained her with every laugh she took.

"Yeah...yeah... Mom... How about I get you some tea and you be quiet for the rest of the night?"

"Fine." The old woman grumbled as she sat back down in her chair grumbling about her late husband and her "disappointment" of a son who had just got up to get his mother some tea.

"You'll have to excuse him kiddo, he wasn't always a hippy." Barry's mother said to Kay as she opened another can of Moutain Dew.

"Gotcha. He's alright."

"Alright?! Don't be too generous now kid! Back in my day, we'd kick his ass out on the lawn and make him do push-ups in the rain with his cheap suit."

"Okay... So how's Doug than?"

"He's the boy my husband would be proud of unlike his phony of a son... And hey... There he is!"

"Now here's what I really want to see!" Kay said as she sat up.

* * *

Shiho had left to go check on Mr. Nishizumi half an hour ago which left Miho alone at home. Maho must have been gone for at least the better portion of the day.

Miho went off on a jog down memory lane as she went through old family photos, the ones which her dad could at least be found in and the ones where her sister would actually smile for the camera. Her mother's lips never seemed to move in the upward direction, even in a photo that was at least ten years old, she was still as serious as she was today so Miho didn't exactly bother to look for one that had Shiho looking somewhat cheerful.

Was it five years ago where her sister had begun to inherit the same degree of solemness that her mother had? She couldn't remember. All she did remember was that both of them were very close with their father. When news of his illness reached the family, it hit Maho the hardest. Perhaps that's why she never seemed to be too happy after that.

She flipped through that section of the family history where it was only the three of them, she found herself always looking like she was scared of the camera while her sister and mother both held about as emotion as a brick wall. By the time she reached time right before her transfer, she might as well as have been the only one standing in the shots.

But Maho. Her sister always cared about her the most out of their entire family even when she never showed it... The time during her transfer where the only photos were of Maho and Shiho.

Maho by rule of thumb never carried more emotion than a stone on her face, but there was just something in her eyes in all those pictures. Emotions like fear and distress, perhaps even resentment. Things that the Maho Miho knew would never feel.

Growing bored of the photos, Miho went downstairs watching her favorite show on TV would ease her boredom.

Her thumb hit the power button.

It went right to a shot on the game. But like most of these events, the cameras was in the stadium where you could see the crowd as well as well as the players. At the center of the stadium was a large 3D projection of the game.

She didn't even see what was going on. Not because it was the cameraman's fault but cause she didn't really care. All she saw was Maho.

And Luca.

* * *

"Eat this Fritz!" Edward cried out as the Class-M fired a single shell at the damaged escort. There was a singular explosion and the ship began to sink, its crew deciding to abandon ship.

"And that's how it's done!" Edward called out happily.

"Captain, we've got a battlecruiser, two O clock!"

"So its come to save it's friends!? We'll show those... Gah!"

The class-M began to shake uncontrollably for a single moment tossing crew and items to and fro. Thankfully as regulations said, everyone had been wearing various forms of protective gear which made any normally hard falls just a gentle tap.

"Breach on lower decks! Damage control get down there!"

"What the bloody hell hit us?"

"I think it was a torpedo!"

"Those sneaky blighters are using submarines against us?! Pursuit now! We'll blast the blokes into next week!"

"Edward is pursuiting an enemy submarine." Marko said over the radio. "I sighted the other one. Going after it!"

"Very well. Any word from Fraken?"

"He told us he'll be going silent for now on." Chris the radioman said. "Should I..."

"No. If he isn't talking with us, there's a damn good reason behind it. I want the Montana to engage the remaining three surface ships."

"Chew them up and spit them out mate. Colossus will remain behind until all squadrons have been repaired." James said as the massive bulwark of the Montana passed by the carrier.

"Edward must be losing his temper. And his grip. And his focus." Mr. Jones said as he watched the damaged destroyer pursue after the submarine, dumping out enough depth charges to destroy a city block.

"We must keep our heads on then." Doug said. "Alright boys, attack their fleet!"

* * *

"Enemy flagship ahead Herr Admiral! It's..."

The admiral got up from his seat took get a good view of the ship that had just been capsized by the main guns of the Montana. He chuckled to himself, much to the surprised looks of many of his crew.

"Herr Bleck, what is so funny?"

"It seems the family never lost any of it's arrogance." Admiral Bleck said as he watched the battleship fire upon the damaged escort, crippling it instantly. "They're all gut, Ja?"

"Ve are fine Admiral. See you on ze shore vonce we've won."

"I was talking about our enemy. Are zey not skilled foes?"

"Skilled?! Zey only got big guns but no skill!"

"Smart answer."

* * *

"Last escort has been destroyed. Seems the battlecruiser is hanging back."

"They're picking their battles." Mr. Jones said as he watched the battlecruiser linger just out of range. "Carrier! You guys done with repairs yet?"

"All finished!"

"Enemy battlecruiser is all alone. Sink it."

"With pleasure mate." Charles replied as he hopped into his spitfire. "That thing has a one way ticket to Davy Jones locker!"

"Until of course... They salvage the thing..." Horace chuckled.

"Shut up! I make sure it's Captain is blowing bubbles before the hour!"

"They're not going to last long against that mob." Mr. Jones said as he watched bombs and machine gun fire rain upon the battlecruiser. "They'll have a pleasant swim... Wait a minute... Doug..."

"Yeah... I just remembered. That's not their flagship." Doug said as he glanced at it through a spyglass. "Damn! You were right! Their flagship is still hiding!"

As if to drive the point home, the Montana rocked to the side as it was hit by two torpedoes.

"Clever bastards." Mr. Jones muttered as he grabbed a protective helmet and put it on. "Doug! You think we can withstand this?!"

"We'll withstand it about as long as they'll withstand the planes!" Doug replied as another deck breach was reported. "Chris? We got any messages?"

"Um... This makes no sense but... We'll have plenty of cake at the party?" He asked with disbelief as he read the message.

"Yeah... We will." Mr. Jones said with a sly grin.

"What?! We lose if they sink our flagship! We can't even retaliate!"

"Just watch the oceans kid." Mr. Jones said.

* * *

"You see? Ze Americans in their arrogance left their flagship into the open." Bleck said as he sat down on a raft with members of his crew. "They forgot that all warfare was based on deception and decided zat ve vould use our largest schiff for our flagship. Young fools!"

"Ja. You are a clever one Admiral."

"Danke mein ami... Now then, I fink ve vill..."

He stopped talking. Only stared at the sky with disbelief.

"Vat? Vat is going on here?"

In the sky were the large words: Team Overlord wins.

"Vat's going on here?"

* * *

"Nice of you to find where their flagship was hiding."

"No problem. The credit belongs to Herr Jones for thinking of it. Does he know Herr Bleck?"

"He does. Veteran player, served as a first mate with Team Bismarck. The guy is serious business... but I think we could of all taken it a bit more seriously if he actually had something to work with..."

"That's normally why the more well-funded teams usually win..."


	9. After the game: Doug

"Doug! That was amazing!" Kay said as she met with him the next day after the game.

"Couldn't wait to welcome me home?" Doug grinned as he hugged Kay. "Kay, I'd like you to meet Mr. Jones. He's a genius!"

"So... You're the man he won't shut up about." Kay smiled as she shook his hand.

"I am flattered... Kay is it? He wouldn't shut up about you on the car ride."

"I hope he never does." Kay said as Doug wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "How did you..."

"Mr. Jones is a veteran Kay."

"Been doing this for more that 40 years. There ain't one trick in the book I don't know."

"And I can confirm that!" Mr. Smith said as he walked onto the porch. "Jon... I had them make you your favorite... Come on in everyone!"

* * *

"I swear... I stay here more than I do with my parents." Kay said as she cracked open a bottle of aged cider.

"Story of my life when I was young. I was friends with Paul since we were in diapers." Mr. Jones said as he lit a cigar.

"And like I always say, you never should have. When you left, Barry became a hippy in his cheap suit."

"Mom... This suit costs 18,000 dollars."

"Still cheap!"

"More money than my entire networth." Kay joked as she drank some cider. "I knew Doug since we were born."

"I knew your dad since I was three. If our children didn't grow up hand in hand, that'd be almost surprising... Damn. Why did he choose this time to go on a three month vacation to Fiji? We could have had a few beers and steaks together again... Watched a few games."

"I don't control where he wants to go." Kay said as she buttered her roll. "But I am still here. Heck... I pretty much live here."

"Hope that becomes permanent!" Barry joked causing everyone in the room to burst out laughing.

"It's gonna happen." Doug said as he poured Kay more cider causing smiles to go around the room. "Hey Dad, the "warehouse"?"

"There's a tour group seeing it at 8:00. I'll personally lead it with you guys."

* * *

"A nice run down memory lane." Mr. Jones said as the helicopter landed on the massive ship. "We part of the tour?"

"Yeah."

"This place is a few thousand times larger than my school." Kay said as she took a look around. "Maybe not literally... But still pretty big."

"We kept everything here." Barry said as he passed by the various buildings. "It's all factories on top, offices in the middle and storage on bottom."

"People work here?"

"It's pretty much a personal city for some workers who applied. They typically work longer hours but I made sure the living conditions were much better than most. Typically college kids and people who are single."

"You got tanks here by chance?"

"We build tanks here kid." Barry chuckled. "Oh right... Please remind the Principal at Saunders the next time you see her that she seriously needs to make up her mind faster. I got like a bajillion Sherman Fireflies on hold just for her."

"Okay gotcha.. But what did Doug want to see?"

"Follow me... You'll all get to see!" Barry said as he led them down an elevator. Moments later, he was met with gasps of awe from the entire tour group.

Ships. Plenty of them. There must have been hundreds, ranging from dozens of escorts to a single super-carrier.

"And the warehouses, we keep Team Overlord's ships. As we all know, the team officially still exists and is currently in this year's tournament, which as a result, means their ships are still kept here and other storage places. In total there are seven super-carriers, twenty two battleships, three of which are Montana classes. We also have sixty battlecruisers, eighteen carriers, fifty missile cruisers, thirteen missile submarines, and over one hundred destroyers and at about three hundred escorts. Of course, they're not all here in this one storage, and not all of these belong to Overlord. Over half of these are actually ships we are going to sell to schools, other teams or are just here for a collection. Courtesy to my father, Paul Smith."

"He's got enough ships to sink the rest of the world." Kay whispered to Doug as the rest of the group went over to see the armada.

"I know right? If we were to combine all his ships, their combined tonnage would be greater than the combined tonnage of the next 13 fleets of every other collector, player or owner combined! I am certain if my grandpa was still alive, he'd send this entire fleet out with no regrets at the finals."

"Until of course, they propose a rule that limits the amount or tonnage during that." Kay joked. "So... What's your dad missing in his collection?"

"A Yamato class and a few others. He's been trying to find a seller for at least a year now. I heard only three exist."

"Team Yamato has one... Right?"

"Duh. It's even in their name... Did you know that they managed to win the finals even though they were outnumbered one to nine this one time?"

"How's that even possible?"

"Their fleet composes of a single Yamato class and four carriers most of the time. One has fighters, another has dive bombers, another has torpedo bombers and the last one also has whatever suits the situation. Normally, they finish off the majority of the enemy fleet using their planes alone. Yamato cleans up anything too big for them. The team leader, Admiral Samamoto always picks the most dangerous waters available."

"Picks?"

"You know how Team Yamato is really small by default? The team with less ships gets to pick where they get to fight as a handicap, Samamoto's pilots and sailors are trained to operate under the harshest weather and ocean conditions. I remember this one year when he let a storm take out the half the enemy fleet before moving in. Not surprisingly... His fights tend to end with quite a few trips to the hospital and on worse-case scenarios, people have died fighting against him... Or for him. His family and most of his friends regards the naval games kind of like it's sacred. I can see where that comes from as his people were from the sea."

"Died for him? What do you mean by that?"

"This one game, one of the planes had a malfunction. The pilot should have ejected. Did he? No. He sent his plane straight into the enemy ship."

"Jesus!"

"The people on the ship were okay. The bridge is the indestructible part and no one was standing on the deck... The pilot? They only found blood. When they looked into it, Samamoto didn't even try to stop him. These guys regard him as like their god or something. For good reason too, he has the longest win-streak in Japan and the third-highest worldwide. Nine. He's only been beaten by my grandpa and my dad."

"Did Norfolk ever beat him?"

"Never played against them. Probably would go both ways. Team Yamato has some of the most skilled players in the world, Norfolk's got more ships than you can count."

"You think you can beat him?"

* * *

"Team Overlord has once again decided to rear its head."

"Team Overlord?" The greyed man asked as he watched the salvage boats went to get the sunken ships out of the water.

"Yes. It is the son of Barry that now leads them. Douglas Smith."

Samamoto got up for a moment to clean his uniform for any signs of untidiness. He stared out at the window, at the burning deck of a crippled ship.

_"_It is good to fight a member of another honorable family." Samamoto said as he clenched his fists.

"Admiral?"

"Their family has been a thorn in my side for far too long. They will know that victory belongs to me at the end."

Samamoto smiled to himself. He would once again meet an old friend and arch-enemy again in due time. Over twenty years ago, he had been defeated by the legend known as Paul Smith. A single decade later, he would meet a similar situation with Barry Smith. Now, Samamoto would not be beaten once again by a member of the Smith clan once again.


	10. Chapter 10

"Let nothing stop your victorious march, pride of the northern seas. You are the hope of everyone here. Sail on fearlessly." Marko read as he walked through the streets of town with Vasily. The letter had been delivered to him the moment he stepped into town by a mailman who was probably a bit too enthusiastic about the job.

"You think that much money can convince the town?"

"We all know that no one really wants to see the senior citizens' home go away. Maybe some grubby businessmen but that's about it. Give them a few hundred million rubles and no one will want some den of loud and obnoxious people."

"I think everyone, not just the seniors are going to appreciate this."

"Duh. Who do you think wrote the letter?"

"I did." A tall girl said as she emerged from the side of the street. "The people told me to give you our appreciation for your trouble."

"Oh hi Nonna." Vasily said nervously as he tried his best not to stare;

"Hey Vasily. I watched the game. You and your comrades really knew what you were doing."

"It went just as planned. Admiral Bleck is a cunning opponent, his strategy may have even worked without the help of Mr. Jones the vice-admiral."

"Oh... Was he that old guy?" A short blond girl asked as she joined the group. "We thought he was crazy with half of the things that came out of his mouth!"

"He was sorta crazy... He had been doing this for over 40 years."

"Wow..." Katyusha said as she looked around, seeing how they had attracted the attention of some people. "Nonna..."

"Right." Nonna said as she gave Katyusha a piggyback ride. "The people are overjoyed by the victory."

"Nonna. Tell the town that I have but one message then. That we report our victory to everyone. Please have this done this afternoon and I will owe you win."

"You want me to do a PSA in front of the whole town? Why can't you do it?"

"I hate being in a spotlight... but now that aside, what have you two been up to?" Marko asked as they strolled through town.

"Well, as you know, even when school is out, Tankery is still a thing. Since we both graduated this year, we both decided that we'd coach for the Freshmen."

"Nice. This is on land right?"

"Yeah."

"Darn." Vasily muttered. "Well, on the bright side, it's still here in home... yes?"

"Yeah... it's actually right around the corner, want to see?" Nonna asked.

"Just for a bit." Marko said. "I planned to go fishing this afternoon."

"Again?" Katyusha muttered.

* * *

"I always loved this river." Vasily said as he dipped his rod into the cold waters later that afternoon. The long snake of a river was quite large, big enough even for large freighters to travel on without any problems of running aground.

"A few good miles from the town, a pretty quiet fishing spot. Only problem would be once it gets really cold, we'll need rocket launchers to break the ice." Marko said as he watched the sky. No sign of snow despite the cold air. Then again, here in Russia, it was cold for about eight months.

"You got more coffee?"

"Here." Marko said as he took out a laser pen with two different configurations. He tested one of them, watching the blue dot jump from place to place with minor amusement.

"What do you need a pen for?"

"You can hear me through those earmuffs?"

"Yes... Sorta." Vasily said as he put the bait on his hook. "Okay. Why do we need the pen again? You going to write down what fish we get?"

"No."

"Keeping a journal?"

"No. Just take off your earmuffs and you might get it in a few minutes."

Vasily nodded and went back to fishing. He listened closely to the world around him until heard it. The "subtle" squealing of treads in the distance.

"Pretend you don't see them."

Turning around, he pretended not to see the Stalin hidden in the snow dunes that had it's main gun aimed right at their direction.

"Good lord!"

"A few freshmen decided that was a good idea for a prank." Marko said as he toyed with his pen. "Here's mine."

Jumping up with his quick reflexes, he aimed the red dot in the general area of the tank.

Before Vasily even knew it, he saw a good portion of the landscape replaced with craters and thanked the fact that he had earmuffs. The explosion rattled both the ground and his teeth.l

"Let that be a lesson for you!" Marko called out as he saw the humiliated tank crew crawl out of the Stalin which had been flipped over and was missing almost all of it's paint. Had it not been for the carbon sheathing, the tank crew and the tank would have probably been erased off the face of the earth.

"I told you guys this wasn't going to end well!" One of the girls whined as she approached the two boys. "If Nonna wouldn't have killed us for this, they probably would have done something like this!"

"You'll need bigger guns if as much as want to come out and play with the big kids." Katyusha said as she emerged out of nowhere. "We were going to say something but... You always have a plan in mind."

"You came to join us?"

"I brought you lunch!" Katyusha said as a truck pulled up. Nonna stepped out carrying two baskets and a disapproving look for the group of girls.

"Clean this mess up." She said firmly.

"We're sorry! Please don't kill us!"

"Unless you want 25 supplementary classes in a classroom without sunlight, then you best hurry up." Nonna said as she put the baskets down.

"What happened to being sent to Siberia for 25 days?" Marko joked.

"That's what I'd want." Katyusha grumbled. "Originally, it was being sent to Siberia for 25 rubles."

"Sounds like a policy we need to implement." Vasily joked as he put butter on the bread. "We get a tour of Pravda after this? I always wanted to see the girl's highschool vs the boy's one."

"Sure... if you can get Marko to promise to carry me."

"Marko..."

"Fine... Why don't we take this?"

Slowly, the Typhoon-class rose out of the water, having been moving up river ever since.


	11. Chapter 11

"Just in time for afternoon tea." James remarked as he spread some jam on his muffin. "I thought we were going to be late!"

"Nope. Early if anything." Assam muttered as the six sat down.

"I think the air is the best thing here." Edward said as he devoured a heaping plate of chocolate-related pastries before calling for more.

"You're going to get sick off of eating all of those... I still can't believe you scoffed down the entire box I bought!"

"The smaller man always eats the larger pie." Darjeeling said as she sipped out from her tea. Though when we consider Edward and his twins, they definitely weren't small. Height for proper gentlemen as some might say.

"At this rate, it won't be long before Edward becomes a big man... yes sir." Charles joked as he crunched on his crumpets. "I say... the air is already bad."

"Maybe one day, we should find a way for you to live in the sky."

"No... I wasn't talking about that! Someone seriously needs to turn down the air conditioning... I am going to catch my death at this rate!"

"No... turn the blooming thing up! I am sweating!"

"Two degree comfort zones. Those two." James said as he watched his two brothers fight over whether or not it was too cold or too hot for human beings to exist in under their current climate. "Balmy."

"Hey, about the game." Orange Pekoe brought up. "Heard you won."

"Heard?! You only HEARD we won? We stomped the blighters so deep into the water, that... what?!"

"Don't be a big-mouthed braggart."

"Bad form I say, calling your own brother a braggart!"

"Hey... don't lecture me when you called BOTH me and HIM some rather nasty things in the past."

"Can we just go back on topic?" Orange Pekoe asked impatiently.

"Sorry."

"Anyways."

"What happened was that Admiral... whatever his name was had quite the good plan..."

"Mr. Jones however, saw right through it."

"He had Fraken find where his flagship was taken, and take it out. That's how we won."

"You know, I always wanted to ask. Have you considered getting more ships?"

"Actually... I think we all wanted to ask that."

"Not our choice but..."

* * *

"Hey Doug." Fraken said as he watched Doug fiddle with his laptop. "I got this email from a few old friends of mine. Apparently, they would like to join Team Overlord."

"I also got quite a few emails from former members. But as you know, we all on a limit in the earlier games, and the actual process of having new players is quite the hassle... but tell them the answer is yes. Anything else?"

"Just some busywork regarding the game and all of that. Also a letter from Bleck saying that he was impressed and pretty pissed at the same time. Old fool."

"We couldn't lose with the guy who was involved with 26 consecutive wins... though I am not so sure the next game will be so easy. Right now, I am thinking that if we face off against Yamato, Norfolk, Bismark, Liverpool or Senyavin, we could eliminate them SOMEWHAT easier than we could in later matches."

"No need to tell me. The last thing we need is to face Norfolk in the finals. Remember last year? 150 ships? What the hell?! Where do they get all the money and people?!"

"They're the new official USA team..."

"Oh... I am not sure if I should be impressed or alarmed."

"Both. Admiral Phillips is one helluva of a man. Story is, he killed more people than Samamoto!"

"Okay now that's just... wait... what? How?"

"No clue."

"Well, I do some looking-into with that. Signing off."

"Signing off."

* * *

"How do you afford these things again?" Maho asked almost silently as she got into the car with Fraken. "I thought you told me you worked as a teacher."

"Just because I don't get paid a lot doesn't mean I can't afford a nice car." Fraken said. "Customized to my liking. Set me back about more deutsch marks than I care to think about, and I would have to live in a basement if I didn't have the Type IX so... speaking of jobs, what are you being?"

"You really have to ask? Did the name Nishizumi disappear from your mind or something?"

"Thought so." Fraken said as mental images of Maho being a professional in tankery went through his mind. "Teaching? Or doing something like actually playing in the nationals or internationals?"

"All three perhaps."

"What's Miho doing?"

"Hasn't decided. I am even betting on her to decide she likes tankery again and may want to reconsider what she thought of last year. Mother was rather proud with her... those two haven't been since close since... ever. Not that we as a family were ever too close to begin with."

"Dad's still in the hospital?"

"Yeah. He's on more life support and medications than I can count. He's been like this for five years."

"Mein gott.. five years?!"

"It's a good thing the family can afford it." Maho said as she tapped the car. "How's your family holding up?"

"Two small, boring people living in a small, boring town doing absolutely nothing in their small, boring lives. Mein familie."

"How is Miho actually? She didn't seem to say much last time we met."

"She never seems to say much. You said that about me the first time we went out together."

"Seems you're a family of few words but bold actions." Fraken chuckled.

"Speaking of bold actions, the game was good."

"Thanks. Herr Jones planned the whole thing from beginning to end."

Though her face didn't show it, Maho was quite surprised. It had seemed more like to her during the match that Fraken had anticipated Bleck's thoughts in lieu of Jones' planning the entire thing out. Or perhaps Jones guessed Bleck's strategy? Even if they knew about how Bleck wanted to hide his flagship, how would they plan the entire battle?

"Planned?"

"Ja. Planned. Don't ask how. I was just listening to him tell me stuff. Thought he was crazy. Now I know he is crazy, but a genius nevertheless. He somehow managed to guess EXACTLY what would happen the entire time! Can you believe that?! Oh...And here's your stop."

"Thanks for the ride by the way." Maho nodded as she got out of the car. "We should probably talk about this next time. Maybe I can get a few ideas once I get my new job."

She watched as the fancy contraption pulled out of the long drive way and went out of sight. Giving the car a single wave. Turning around, she braced herself for a lecture on being late.

* * *

"While you're ideas are... unorthodox for a Nishizumi, I cannot deny that they were inevitably effective and have value. But, if you intend to go back into tankery as a professional or a teacher, you will adhere to the rules of our family and ancestry. Do I make myself clear?" Shiho asked sternly as Miho averted her eyes from her gaze.

"Yes..."

"Good. It's nice that we come to an understanding."

"What if I don't intend to go back into tankery?"

"Then you better do something that at least INVOLVES tankery. Miho, this is serious, a Nishizumi not doing Tankery is like a fish not being in water. It must not happen... I hope your idea falls within my expectations or at the very least, falls somewhat within the boundaries of a Nishizumi's duty."

"Okay. I just haven't decided."

"When you do... tell me. And another thing, Maho, try to come home earlier."

"Yes, Mother."

"And another thing Maho. You know your father?"

"What about him?"

"His team won the national contest for Japan in the naval games. He proved his worth that very day. I would like to let you know, that whoever it is that you've been sneaking off with, he better have the same value."

"Yes. Mother... I have a slight confession to make."

"You intend to be with him?"

"Yes..."

"Then tell me who it is."


	12. Chapter 12

"What was the difference again?" Vasily asked to himself as he sat down in the bridge with Vasily and Kamarov.

"There wasn't one... and here was old me thinking the girl's school was better. Same old, same old." Kamarov mumbled as he opened can of coca-cola. "So, back to town?"

"Yeah. That's about two hours... I think... it's going to be darker than black when we get home." Vasily said partly to himself, partly to everyone else. There was a small ding of a bell which got the attention of everyone on deck.

"Dinner's served." The cook said as he handed everyone plates of food.

"Doesn't this place have a dining room?" Nonna asked as she saw everyone begin to dig in on the bridge.

"We HAD a dining room... but now it's a ground zero."

"Ummm what?" Katyusha asked with a bit of disbelief. "Did something go wrong?"

[Roughly a month ago]

"Hey comrades! Look what I got!" Slavin said as he placed a massive crate on the table. "Finest vodka in moscow!"

"Vodka?"

"Vodka."

"Well! I am sold." Kamarov said as he opened a bottle. Taking a small sip of the contents, he felt himself almost immediately feel woozy as the liquid went down his throat. Having never drank any alcohol in his life before, the navigator decided that one sip was all he needed. Sitting down, he tried to focus as the world did 360 degree spins all the way around.

"Maybe...not...good...idea..." Kamarov slurred as he tried to get steady. He watched his shipmates all try some of the substance to varying degrees of liking or hating. After about a good time of drinking the alcohol and decided whether or not they liked it or hated it, Slavin went to the crate and grabbed a single bottle. Popping the cork, he drank the entire thing down.

The entire room cheered and laughed between the somewhat sober to the heavily drunk people whom all found the helmsman chugging an entire bottle amusing.

Without warning, Slavin threw up. All over the table.

It was chaos then, but to make a long story short, despite being able to clean up all the throw up, the room had "the most god-awful smell in all of Russia" even until now, and has been a ground zero ever since. No amount of deodorant, perfume or air freshener could ever wash the smell away.

[Back to present]

"And that is why alcohol is BANNED." Marko said as he walked in. "That's soda right?"

"Yeah." Kamarov replied as he showed him the can. "We still haven't managed to get the smell out."

"How much did he drink anyways?"

"Who the hell cares? We had fun... right?" Slavin said weekly despite all the glares that were thrown at him. "Okay. Hey, I cleaned it up after."

"That totally explains how we still can't go in there even now." Vasily said as he wiped his mouth. "The reason why Marko banned alcohol on this ship is mainly for that reason. Not that many of us really had a stomach to drink anymore after Slavin... so we got about two hours until we get home."

"Maybe some sleep?" Nonna suggested to Katyusha. "It's going to be past midnight by the time we get home."

"No. Don't need any."

"Well... okay then."

"Oh yes." Kamarov said as he remembered something. "We used to play paintball on this thing. Stopped because it took us literally days to wash off all the paint."

"That really sounds like fun."

"Trust me, it was. Until... the cleaning up part." Marko said. "Now that wasn't my decision, but really, no one wanted to clean up the mess anymore, so we stopped. Let's see... we still got these though." He moved over to a locker on the bridge and opened it. AK-47s. Real ones.

"Still got these. We normally load them with tracer rounds during the night when we can't see anything. We won't be needing them much underwater, but every time it's too dark for the periscope, we have to rely on the tracer rounds. Other than that, they're mainly just for show."

"May I hold one?" Katyusha asked, smiling hopefully.

"Sure. The safeties are on and they aren't loaded." Marko said as he gave the rifle to the small girl who held it like a she just got a new toy. Her imagination quickly started to wander to things that probably would have frightened everyone in the room.

"Nonna." Vasily said as his mind began to wander slightly. "How's teaching Tankery?"

"Good!" Nonna said. "The children are delightful! Every single one of them! No complaints."

"That's nice to here. We're all part time fishermen here. Marko's really good with the line. Kamarov's good with the net."

"He also knows how to catch other things too." Marko said. "We made good money learning from him."

"Thanks comrades." Kamarov grinned as he finished his dinner. "But all in all, if we had drinks, we'd all give Marko a toast. He won the regional competition last year. That's how we got this old thing. We might as well as have been using a sailboat until he won which got us this old girl. She's sunk more ships than dinners we've had."

"How many ships does the boy's high school has?" Nonna asked. "Our tankery team has thirty-six tanks in total."

"Six." Vasily replied. "One battleship, one submarine, one destroy, three escorts. About . It was pretty bad how we had no carriers. See, the girl's team has a pretty good tankery team and all. The boy's team was awful. That's pretty much why we had hardly anything until Marko took that submarine and crushed everyone else. He seriously turned things around."

"No need to thank me. You were all pretty good too."

"Yeah...yeah... but one thing that's been on my mind. You know team Yamato?"

"Aren't they like one of the best teams?" Katyusha asked as she munched on some bread.

"They are. Samamoto is like the best thing since sliced bread for the Japanese team. The good majority of his team are taken up by people that knew him personally during his life. They are willing to die for him. That's happened I think twelve times in the last ten years."

"That takes it rather far. Even by our standards." Nonna commented as she continued listening.

"You said it. Samamoto wins with only his Yamato, and four carriers. He completely obliterated Team Bulwark even though Bulwark's pilots were better in almost every way. That guy's a genius and fights really dirty. No wonder polls favor him."

"I'll bet." Slavin said. "I heard he's crazy."

"Nah. Just takes it even more seriously than us. And that's saying something. I know it's a lot of money that's on the line, but is it really worth dying over?"

"No." Marko said. "They're dying out of honor."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"The people that serve Samamoto see death rather than defeat to be the most honorable course of action. While most people under him don't have this view, some of his more fanatical followers do. That's why his team scares me. They put their lives on the line for their commander. That's true loyalty. Respectable and admirable in every way, yet it makes the game so much more dangerous."

"I know the Nishizumi clan takes Tankery quite seriously." Katyusha chimed in. "Though, if I recall correctly, Mrs. Nishizumi only teaches Tankery. Doesn't actually play it. Though if she was to well... you know."

"The rest of Japan wouldn't stand a chance." Marko chuckled. "Though it's usually the big countries like Russia, America or Germany that win. Mostly Americans and their high budget."

"It's always money when it comes to this. You have money, you can make even more money and leave all the rest of the poor slobs behind." Vasily said. "Good thing we signed up with Smith. That guy's made of money. Ah. Americans."

"Why didn't you go with the Russian team? I heard they're pretty good too."

"We heard that as well. But I think I'd rather be with a friend than a bunch of strange old fellows who treat newcomers like dirt. I've known Doug when we met in the fifth grade. He was already really good at the time. Runs in the family..."

"Marko. You think you can win this?" Nonna asked after a brief moment of silence. "You know the entire town is counting on you. So are many of our fathers and forefathers."

"I will win this." Marko said. "With my friends by my side. Doug, Luca, Charles, James and Edward. We will all win this. You want to know why? Well... I actually don't know."

The room broke into a ripple of laughter and chuckling as Marko cracked open a bottle of water. It was moments like this that reminded them that Marko wasn't always stone-faced serious like he normally was. The good, (not really.) old captain. (Being hardly 20 years old, you'd have to be out of your mind to think him old.)

"But nevertheless... we still will win this. I know it. I can feel it in my bones."

"Katyusha...can...too..." The small blond girl murmured as her head lolled onto Nonna's shoulder. She began to snore gently in just moments.

"She missed her afternoon nap." Nonna said quickly as Katyusha received many glances from everyone on the bridge.

"By the way... who's idea was it to call this ship the pride of the northern seas?"

"Mine." Nonna said. "Like it?"

"I love it." Vasily said. "Say Marko... can we actually name her that?"

"It's a good name. Let's do it."

* * *

**As some of you may or may not have noticed, all the characters on the newly named "Pride Of The Northern Seas" are all named after characters from "The Hunt For Red October" and they also occupy the same roles for future reference. (Kamarov: Navigator, Vasily: XO, Slavin: Helmsman) **

****

Now I am not sure whether or not this is true. But apparently that ALL the characters are actually Japanese from Girls Und Panzer?  
This would make sense in the case of Oarai and Kuromorimine but with Saunders, Anzio, Pravda and St. Glorianna. Less so. I mean, the characters have fairly western sounding names and I think Darjeeling mentions herself as an "English woman" and reverences to Kay and America's "phone line to hell". 

**Then again. It's an anime. It doesn't have to make sense. **

**And of course, reviews are always welcome. (GIVE ME REVIEWS AND I'LL GIVE YOU FREE CANDY!*)**

***Virtual candy **


	13. Chapter 13

"Alright lads. It seems as though our next opponent happens to be Team Churchill."  
"Oh... aren't they the guys who serve as the UK's official team?"

"They indeed are. It's a good thing it's early in the game or we'd be at a SERIOUS disadvantage." Doug said. "Right now, if my brain is thinking right, they'd have a large airfleet and a fleet of mostly carriers and a few escorts. Maybe one or two battleships. What was the thing they used last year during the second match?"

"One King George V-class, four Illustrious classes and twenty class-As. If they do the same, which they probably will because well... they have been every year, we'll be outnumbered one to five. Our attack-sub is going to be having a tough time with all those destroyers and they have over 200 planes, which will give all our flyboys a ton of trouble. Thankfully, they don't have TOO much anti-surface that isn't sky-related. Those destroyers will probably be food for the Montana and the King George will get shredded any day of the week. The thing is... that many planes..." "Listen, whatever Hai was, Hai was a joke. Churchill has enough funding to do whatever it needs. And I read this one year when they had over a thousand planes during the finals. These guys... they mean business. Now, then... we need a plan, and we can't rely on the fact that Montana is going to waltz in and destroy their entire fleet by herself."

"Charles." James began. "What did you just say?"

"We can't rely on Montana to just waltz in and destroy their entire fleet?"

"What if we can do just that?" James asked as he looked at his shipmates. "What if..."

* * *

"And I thought I was crazy. Then we listened to those boys come up with a plan." Mr. Jones said as he sat down with Barry to have lunch.

"They sure are a bright group. Best of the best. They'll come up with something. I know they will."  
"I remember your dad telling me that this one time. Only thing was, we were on even terms."

"That's my main concern too. Doug is going to be outnumbered 1-5 on the surface, 1-4 on the air. That's going to be problem for him."

"You think you can call in the boys from last year to help him?"|

"I could... but he told me he'll only ask if he actually needed it. As of now, Overlord still exists, but it's a sleeping giant."  
"Well, that giant better hurry the hell up with it's siesta because we might pull through this one, but we're going to get crushed during the finals and semi-finals at this rate."

"Remember when we outnumbered Yamato during one game?"  
"Samamoto just wouldn't quit." Mr. Jones said. "I have to say, he really did his country proud." "Indeed. He's regarded as being better than Phillips. That's saying something."  
"Thing is, Phillips has more ships and more men to work with. And here is the whole thing on why teams with more money are better. Phillips, what is he? Number eleven or twelve?"

"All I know is that Mr. Smith is on top ten which means that we won't ever be low on funding. Manpower however..."

"That's going to be our main problem. And that's why we gotta get some more teammates or we're going to get screwed over really badly against the larger teams. Hell, Samamoto beats teams that outnumber him like eight to one."

"Why we can't we do the same then?"

"Because that guy's a legend. But... I guess we can try in our fight against Churchill. At least Charles can. Those numbers actually matter. Montanna, Type IX, the class M and... okay. We need to name all our ships something cool. Pride Of The Northern Seas? That name is just way too badass. We need good names people."  
"Really James? Can we just focus?" Doug said as he sat down. "Okay. We all know the plan right?"

"Right!"  
"This works, Churchill is more dead than a coffin nail. This doesn't work..."

"We get shot full of holes..." Edward commented. "I don't think anyone mentioned, but this is also flagships right?"

"Right. Next game is going to be capture the flag."

An air of silence hung around the room as the words "capture the flag" left Mr. Jones' mouth. A few of them here had rather awful experiences with it. Afterall, it was Capture the Flag that resulted in more fatalities than anything. No wonder many countries have long abandoned that form of playstyle, and that some groups wished it'd be removed from the international games.

"Let's not talk about that for now." Doug said as he got down his map. "So I feel like choosing this place for our battle. Yes? No?"

"Where we facing? The west or east?"

"We'll be facing the west. The battle is going to take place at around 8:00 AM local time."  
"Looks good to me. Right off the coast of china. And by right off, I mean a good hundred or so miles. Okay everyone. Go home, get some sleep. Do whatever. The game is in two days."

* * *

"You boys against Team Churchill? Good luck." Darjeeling said when she heard the details of the game. "Those lads are some of the best in all of england."

"Just because they're the best in england doesn't mean we can't beat them." "I suppose so. Even champs like them make some rather nasty blunders every now and then. Though... I don't really watch them often. This is all from what I heard."  
"Who do you watch?"

"Mostly Tankery." Darjeeling said. "Would you like anything?"  
"No. No thanks." The three replied at the same time. "Not hungry."  
"Hey..."  
"So we heard..."  
"You were trying horseback riding...?"  
"Oh rubbish. Can't do anything of that sort." She replied as she shed light of recent events that totally did not end with her hanging from a tree branch. "How about we change the subject...say... tea?" "Sure. You think we can win against Churchill? They're some of the best." "Of course you can. If that crazy old man does some more of his magic. Was it really true he caught on the other team's strategy even before the game started?"  
"Well... yeah... but I don't think he'll be able to figure Churchill out in ten seconds flat. He doesn't know their admiral very well."  
"Regardless, he may be crazy, but he's smart. He'll think of something. Even if he doesn't, I am sure you blokes already have."

* * *

"I had way too much to eat. I really, really, really need to stop." Kay said as she dug into a bucket of popcorn. "But...but...that lunch was so good!"  
"You say that literally every time, and literally every time do you never stop eating." Doug mumbled as he opened a water bottle.

"I eat too much junk food." Kay chuckled as she continue to stuff herself with the popcorn, somewhat oblivious of the fact that Doug had two hamburgers on the way here.

"The story of the American dream." Doug said. "Then again, you eat twice as much as me yet you weigh less. Care to explain?"

"I am shorter?"

"By a single centimeter? Great explanation there." Doug laughed. "But seriously..."  
"Maybe it has something to do with that I beat you in a race every time we try."

"Well, I just a slow runner... yeah. Maybe all that running you do burns it all in like seconds. I should probably start then. I still dream of maybe eating like three bacon cheeseburgers and not looking like a shaven bear." "Hey, my parents sell fitness stuff. You should try it."  
"My dad keeps a ton of those at home." Doug said. "Never bothered to use them."

"Speaking of your dad, why does your grandmother hate him so much? The guys a total badass! He bungie-jumps, skydives, snowboards, goes on fricking adventures, mastered like some asian ninja fighting style thing and a whole lot of things! And apparently, he's a phony in a suit!" "That's my grandmother for ya! She never seemed to appreciate my dad much anyways. To be fair, he's always working if he's not going on some crazy adventure or a snowboarding trip."  
"He's really nice though. He always lets me stay if my parents away..."  
"Hey, your parents do the same for me."

"It's not like my parents live in a multi-million dollar estate though."

"True... but it's nice enough."  
"How'd you think you're going to do in your next match?"

"Fine... fine... Team Churchill I heard is some of the best. You think we can beat them?"

"Sure! That crazy old guy will probably think of something. Like he did last time!"  
"Well... he actually knew the admiral of that team. He doesn't this time so it's not like he can do any voodoo mind reading. He just predicts stuff."

"That'd be pretty neat if he could though... imagine..." Kay chuckled as she tried to imagine Mr. Jones as some form of wizard. "How about a movie?"

"Sure! Got any good ones?"

"Plenty."


	14. Chapter 14

"Nice shades." James said as he watched Charles put on a pair of aviators.

"They spiffy or what? I just got them at that store. Can wear them while in the plane too!"

"Well... get in then." James said as he watched the seas. "Estimated time of contact is in forty minutes so HURRY UP."

The pilot nodded as he closed the cockpit to his plane and began the proper procedures to taking off. The spitfire shot off the deck of the aircraft carrier and went off into the skies followed by an entourage of spitfires and hurricanes.

* * *

Elsewhere, a lone Typhoon class submarine skimmed the bright waters as the missile ports slowly opened up, revealing an array of missiles.

"Launch sequences are set. We are ready to fire." Dimitri, the weapons officer said as he prepped the computer. "Target... enemy escorts."

"Give them something to think about." Marko said. "I want them to know that we can strike them anywhere at any time. On my mark. _3...2...1... _FIRE!"

* * *

"The Pride of the Northern Seas has fired upon the enemy fleet." Charles radioed to the spyplane as it watched the enemy fleet from the distance. "What do you see?"

"Enemy fleet has been hit quite hard. We sunk one and damaged three on their left flank. A few of the escorts are breaking off. The battleship is still within the head of the fleet."

"You think they know where Marko is?"

"They have an idea on where he is. Whether or not they know his exact location... is still unknown."

"Alright..." Charles said as he sat down on his chair. "James... you heard that?"

"Loud and clear mate." James replied as he grabbed a pair of binoculars and scanned the horizon. "Contact?"

"Not yet. I estimate about 130 planes. Watch out for torpedo bombers. Maybe at least forty of the blighters."

"I'll make sure." James said as he gazed out at the nine spitfires still on deck. "Edward... you got me covered?"

"I gotcha covered."

* * *

"Good. Because we got the skies to watch." James said as he readied himself. "Luca... escorts are breaking off and heading to your general direction."

"A good hound never chases too far."

"What the hec... nevermind... just be ready for them okay?"

* * *

"We will be."Fraken said as he looked through the periscope. "Torpedo tubes are loaded? Preparations are done?"

"Ja."

"Then be prepared to strike." Fraken replied. "Estimated time of arrival?"

"They will be within strike range in ten minutes."

"Be prepared."

* * *

"And here's where the bally good fun starts mates!" Charles said as he watched the massive cloud of fighters approaching in the distance. "Stay on the escorts first, then get the bombers."

Charles looked back at the enemy planes as his hand gripped tightly around the trigger. A single bead of sweat ran down his neck as he estimated the time it'd take for them to be in firing distance.

His hands squeezed the trigger.

* * *

"Now that's a fight." Barry said as he sat down to watch the game. "Looks like those flyboys know what they're doing."

"I don't know much about this." Rebecca, his wife said as she sat down with her husband. She had just returned from work for the time being and could now spend some quality time with their husband, which was to watch their son play in the international games.

"Well, you see now, those planes are having a dogfight..." Barry explained. "Whomever wrests control of the skies will gain a critical advantage. Planes are important in this for quite a few reasons, whether it is to scout the enemy fleet or to attack the enemy ships. That's just the basics anyways. Right now, Team Churchill has about forty torpedo bombers they plan to use against Doug. His friends in the skies will make sure that isn't going to happen."

"But... where's Doug?" Rebecca asked as she watched Barry pan around with the screen. Those were the types of screens that allowed a viewer to watch the game from any prescriptive they wished at home. Not surprisingly, these screens cost a pretty penny to anyone who got them.

"You see... here's the missile submarine which he's using to bombard the enemy fleet. You see how it's getting a lot of attention?"

"I do. But that doesn't..."

"Just a sec dear." Barry said as he continued to pan around. "Looks like they got these guys pretty mad. They're heading on a course to destroy that submarine so it stops harassing their fleet. It's already sent three ships down the sea but watch... the route of these hunters... is right into the way of this attack submarine."

Barry gestured at the Type IX as Rebecca continued to listen.

"Now, the Class M and the Colossus are here. The Class M is going to protect the Colossus in case any more escorts break off, and it's going to provide AA support. But... where's Doug then?"

Panning around more, they found the Montana, sitting in waters far away from both fleets.

"Montana is just waiting to deliver the killing blow." Barry grinned. "But..."

He continued panning, as he went to one side revealing a lone ship sitting away from the rest of Churchill's fleet.

"HMS Hood. This battlecruiser... it's up to something."

* * *

"Destroy them!" Marko barked as Dimitry set in the launch sequence once again sending another missile salvo up in the air.

"Captain! Enemy ships heading straight for us."

"Good. Give Luca the signal to attack. He will handle them." Marko said as he went to the periscope. "Kamarov! Plot us another course."

"On it, Captain!"

* * *

"Enemy destroyed." Fraken said as he watched the three destroyers went down in flames. The crew bailing out or staying with the safe zones of the ships.

"Captain. We have created a minor gap within the enemy defensive lines. We are free to engage." Hein said as he listened to the spyplane.

"Very well. Get goin... wait a moment." Fraken said as he went to the periscope. "Edward?"

"What?"

"I am not very certain... but it seems there is another ship approaching towards you."

"Nothing we can't handle."

"Alright then..." Luca said. "Come on Hein. We got we got a job to do."

"Here's where we can have A LOT OF FUN now." Hein said. "GET THOSE TORPEDO TUBES LOADED EVERYONE. I want to see how many we can get!"

"Marko has already taken out seven. We've only taken out three." Claus said. "We got some serious catching up to do."

"Him and his "Pride of the Northern seas." Hey... Captain... why can't we have a cool name other than "Type IX"."

"I'll think of one once we win this round. Come on now!"

The Type IX sailed straight for the enemy fleet. Completely unaware of the massive battlecruiser they just passed that was heading straight for the carrier and it's lone escort.


	15. Chapter 15

"She took a beating." James commented as the repair crews went to work on the damaged hurricane. "Hurry up. She'll need more fuel and ammo... and maybe a new paint job too."

"Yeah." The pilot said. "We're doing our best to make sure those torpedo bombers don't get to the mighty ol' colossus."

"Keep on doing that. Bad things will happen if they get through." James said as he watched the repair crews go about. "Edward. Got anything?"

"Got some stragglers and your back old chum!" The young man said as sat back on the recliner on his bridge and opened a wrapper of swiss chocolate. "Just blew another enemy bandit out of the sky!"

"Keep doing what you're doing mate! We're going to win this in no time... Charles... how goes the dogfight?"

"Perfectly fine!" The pilot said as he did a barrel roll to avoid the incoming fire. "We've lost a few planes, they've lost a few planes, we're just making sure those torpedo bombers don't get through. By Jove... these lads have way too many planes!"

"Yeah... I know." Edward said as he watched the torpedo bomber fall straight out of the sky after taking too many hits. It's pilot bailing out and floating in the water. "Lookout! Anymore contacts?"

"Nega... sweet mother of god..."

"What?"

"Enemy Battlecruiser dead ahead!"

"Holy... battlestations! Red alert! Battlestations! James! We got company!"

"What?"

"It's a battlecruiser! It's the HMS Hood!"

"Oh dear!"

* * *

"Seems their operation is in danger." Orange Pekoe said as she watched the game with Darjeeling and Assam. "The HMS Hood. Is that THE HMS HOOD?"

"Seems so. Read in the paper that Churchill took extensive steps in refloating and refitting the old ship. Look at her! Just look at that ship!"

"It's going to rip Edward and James apart from the looks of things." Assam muttered. "You're the expert here, you think they can match it?"

"Probably not." Darjeeling said. "I don't think they got any torpedo bombers and they don't seem to be fielding any type of weapons that can hole that ship. If that carrier goes down..."

"Their planes can't repair, rearm and refuel!" Orange Pekoe said finishing her sentence for her. "And without their planes, those torpedo bombers are going to tear them up!"

"Then they better hope that their battleship is fast enough." Darjeeling said as she watched the Hood fire it's shells off at the Class M.

* * *

"Woe on to our hapless foes." Marko said as another volley was launched. "I count eight destroyers remaining. Fraken, what do you see?"

"Eight destroyers, a flaming carrier, three intact ones and a battleship. I am not going anywhere close that fleet for rather obvious reasons."

"Yeah. I know. Eight destroyers vs one submarine. Bad things are going to happen and..."

"Fraken?"

Silence.

"Fraken? Did your radio die or something?"

"We got a problem. A serious problem." Fraken said as he listened to James. "James is under attack by a battlecruiser. He lacks the firepower necessary."

"Without the carrier, most of our planes will be unable to rearm and refuel!"

"And that means that once we launch our attack, we'll be sitting ducks against their air power." Fraken continued. "At least Doug will be. Getting close will be difficult until all their anti-submarine weapons are done and for all we know, that might include their planes. Our only hope is to attack now."

"Eight escorts vs two of us?" Marko asked with disbelief. "I am on my last volley and even then..."

"We have no alternative. It's all or nothing now." Fraken said. "I am going all in."

"Abandon ship! I repeat, abandon ship!" Edward called as he fastened his helmet. "Everyone, jump for it!"

"What about you Captain?" The first mate asked as he watched Edward still fiddle with the controls.

"Gotta do some damage to that blighter somehow!" Edward said as he finished putting the rest of the protective gear on. Typically, pilots wore these suits if they weren't too keen on getting ripped apart by machinegun fire though once in a while, the bold officer who liked the wind on the deck wore one so he wouldn't be ripped apart by any shells or missiles that landed near him."

"You're a bold one captain. I just radioed to the Colossus that we're going to go down. You doing what I think you're doing?"

"No. I am not Samamoto. But it's still going to be pretty ballsy."

* * *

"Bloody hell..." James said as he watched the class M go full steam ahead at the HMS Hood. For a moment, he thought the two were going to be on a collision course which definitely wouldn't of ended well for Edward. Much to his surprise, the smaller ship instead began to rub up against the larger ship's hull.

"You trying to scratch their paint or something?" James asked to Edward as he watched the dumb act play out.

"No. Just buying you some time." Edward said. "On second thought, yeah... I am just scratching their paint. I am bailing!"

The singular ship had done little to slow the enemy ship down. If anything, brushing against the larger ship had done more harm than good as the destroyer began to sink and whither from the heavy firepower.

"Luca, Marko, whatever you're planning, hurry up. We're not going to last long under this."

"Don't worry. I think Doug's about to start as well."

"Can they do this?"

"Is it possible?"

"It is. But it's going to be difficult. Those escorts are there just in case those submarines decided to try something."

"What about the battleship? Those little guns on the escorts won't even scratch the paint!"

"That's true. But what about the torpedo bombers and the rest of the planes? The King George battleship will also be a problem for the battleship. Maybe if they had more ships they might stand a chance."

"No. They stand a chance. I know they do."

"What makes you so sure? Their Destroyer has already went down and once their carrier does, their planes will be on borrowed time."

"Then they'll have to be fast. Very fast."


	16. Chapter 16

"What's that dripping sound?!" Marko asked as the explosion rocked the hull of the sub. "Comrades, patch up that hole! Now! Luca! This was an awful idea!"

"Not like we had much choice, ja?" Luca replied as his sub maneuvered to avoid being hit full on by the depth charge. "It seems that James is about to have a very nice swim..."

"And so are we at this rate!" Marko said as he felt water drip onto his head. "Luca, I'll say it again, this was an awful idea!"

"Vell, it's not like ve had too much of an option!" Fraken retorted. "Hein! How much closer until zey are in range?!"

"One minute!"

"We don't have a goddamn minute!" Marko complained as he felt more water leak onto his head. Prudently, he walked over the nearby locker and took out the air-tight helmet and put it on. Lest they get a really bad hull breach, he'd at least be protected.

* * *

"I don't think this was part of the plan." Doug said as he listened to the radio chatter. "Why the hell are they attacking the enemy fleet?"

"We had an unaccounted for ship evidently." Mr. Jones said as he sat back in his chair. "Damn... sneaky bastards had another ship and we didn't even notice! Our carrier and destroyer have just been shredded to pieces."

"Maybe spacing out the entire fleet wasn't such a good idea." Doug muttered to himself as he continued to listen. "The way I see it, we have two options. We can either attack now and support Luca and Marko, or we can hang back and wait for a better opportunity."

"Looks like both options are pretty bad. But we can't afford any more losses now." Mr. Jones said. "That air cover won't last without repairs, refuels and reloading and our subs are all we have left against those carriers."

"Then we know what needs to be done. We go full steam ahead."

* * *

"Now this is really exciting!" Katyusha said as she perched on Nonna's shoulders. "Can you imagine?!"

"I can..." Nonna chuckled to herself as she watched the Montanna go full speed at the rest of the fleet.

"How do you think Marko's holding up?"

"He's probably doing fine..."

* * *

"I'll patch that leak!" Marko said as he grabbed the necessary tools and equipment. The water continued to flow and strike him as he moved against the current to the hole. The water was currently at his knees. As the salt water hit him in the face, he couldn't have been more glad about his helmet.

* * *

"I bet he came with a great strategy! Of course he would! He's Marko after all!"

* * *

"The water pressure! We're going to have to surface or we might end up taking too much water!"

"The breach is on the upper decks right?"

"Right! It'll be above water if we surface but..."

"Yeah. We'll be a sitting duck then." Marko said as he tentatively gazed around. "This isn't good... surface on my mark!"

* * *

"And I bet his friend is doing something that will surely help him win."

* * *

"This WAS a good bad idea." Luca said as the Type IX began to tilt and shape by the explosion. "Marko! You think we can attack now and hope that we don't get one dropped right on our heads?"

"I got to surface anyways or we're going down for sure." Marko replied. "I'll see if I can't take at least one of their carriers down with me or... finally."

"What?"

"Doug is here."

* * *

"Fire at will." Doug said as Montana's massive main guns turned their way to aim at one of the escorts. The massive explosion that ensured condemned the smaller vessel almost instantaneously to the abyss while the rest of the enemy fleet moved in various positions.

"Their planes aren't back yet, we're going to have to hurry!" Mr. Jones said as he barked out orders to the crew. "Story is old boy James is still taking a good pounding!"

"Marko has taken too much damage. He has to surface! It's a miracle he hasn't been sunk too either."

"What about Fraken?"

"He's still fine. Fine being a relative term that is." Doug said as he watched the escorts continue to mercilessly hunt for the submarines. "Take out that one."

* * *

"Seems those buggers are withdrawing!" Charles said as he watched a good portion of the enemy airfleet fly off. "Gives us some breathing space right lads?"

If he really was going to be honest with himself, he had about as much as breathing space as if he was being strangled from behind. But of course, someone had to keep up the morale and look on the bright side, right?

"No, you idiot!" James cried angrily from the radio as the Colossus began to have serious problems staying afloat. "They're going after everyone else!"

"Wait... what?! Everyone else?""

"Yeah... everyone else... and as I am about to tell you, I hope you are ready because you just had your last refuel and your last reload."

"Oh dear... I got to do something!"

"Thank you for noticing genius! Hop to it lest Doug ends up blowing bubbles in the water!"

"Okay... I'll see what I can do..." Charles said as his plane sped off. "Sorry mates, gotta run off!"

* * *

"Great. Airfleet is going to be out of fuel and out of ammo, James and Edward are done. Marko's about to bite the dust and Luca isn't doing much better." Doug said. "And now, we got like a bajillion torpedo bombers heading for us. Can't this get any better?"

"Well, their last escort just ran out of depth charges..."

"I am certain some of those aircraft have anti-submarine weapons."

"Then it's time we have to be even quicker." Mr. Jones said. "Let's see if we can't even the odds... fire at that carrier! Marko! Luca! See what you can do about the King George!"

"On it!"

* * *

"This is going to get really good." Maho said with less expression that a brick wall.

"I know right?" Miho asked. At least she was mildly excited about this... "You think they can find a way? The way I see it, their backs are against the wall here."

"I know they will. Just like you did with the Maus back at the game we had."

"Yeah..."

Seriously. Conversations with her sister really could be a few billion times better if Maho didn't sound the same way she did regardless of whatever the situation may be. You know, she could probably be falling out a plane and still sound the same way she did. Then again, why would Miho complain? Last year they were enemies. This year... they may have something more of a "normal" relationship between two sisters. Aren't family members suppossed to look out for one another after all and not be competing against one another for whatever?

Welp. Her mother doesn't exactly see things that way. Unfortunatly.

But that aside, she looked back at her sister whose eyes never left whatever she was watching. Even when they spoke, she never as much as averted her gaze off what was going on. She had been like this for maybe hours.

That's when she realized.

Her sister did care.

Did care very much actually.

For the game.

For the team.

For the man called Luca Fraken.


	17. Chapter 17

"Let nothing stop your victorious march, pride of the northern seas. You are the hope of everyone here. Sail on fearlessly." Marko read as he walked through the streets of town with Vasily. The letter had been delivered to him the moment he stepped into town by a mailman who was probably a bit too enthusiastic about the job.

"You think that much money can convince the town?"

"We all know that no one really wants to see the senior citizens' home go away. Maybe some grubby businessmen but that's about it. Give them a few hundred million rubles and no one will want some den of loud and obnoxious people."

"I think everyone, not just the seniors are going to appreciate this."

"Duh. Who do you think wrote the letter?"

"I did." A tall girl said as she emerged from the side of the street. "The people told me to give you our appreciation for your trouble."

"Oh hi Nonna." Vasily said nervously as he tried his best not to stare;

"Hey Vasily. I watched the game. You and your comrades really knew what you were doing."

"It went just as planned. Admiral Bleck is a cunning opponent, his strategy may have even worked without the help of Mr. Jones the vice-admiral."

"Oh... Was he that old guy?" A short blond girl asked as she joined the group. "We thought he was crazy with half of the things that came out of his mouth!"

"He was sorta crazy... He had been doing this for over 40 years."

"Wow..." Katyusha said as she looked around, seeing how they had attracted the attention of some people. "Nonna..."

"Right." Nonna said as she gave Katyusha a piggyback ride. "The people are overjoyed by the victory."

"Nonna. Tell the town that I have but one message then. That we report our victory to everyone. Please have this done this afternoon and I will owe you win."

"You want me to do a PSA in front of the whole town? Why can't you do it?"

"I hate being in a spotlight... but now that aside, what have you two been up to?" Marko asked as they strolled through town.

"Well, as you know, even when school is out, Tankery is still a thing. Since we both graduated this year, we both decided that we'd coach for the Freshmen."

"Nice. This is on land right?"

"Yeah."

"Darn." Vasily muttered. "Well, on the bright side, it's still here in home... yes?"

"Yeah... it's actually right around the corner, want to see?" Nonna asked.

"Just for a bit." Marko said. "I planned to go fishing this afternoon."

"Again?" Katyusha muttered.

* * *

"I always loved this river." Vasily said as he dipped his rod into the cold waters later that afternoon. The long snake of a river was quite large, big enough even for large freighters to travel on without any problems of running aground.

"A few good miles from the town, a pretty quiet fishing spot. Only problem would be once it gets really cold, we'll need rocket launchers to break the ice." Marko said as he watched the sky. No sign of snow despite the cold air. Then again, here in Russia, it was cold for about eight months.

"You got more coffee?"

"Here." Marko said as he took out a laser pen with two different configurations. He tested one of them, watching the blue dot jump from place to place with minor amusement.

"What do you need a pen for?"

"You can hear me through those earmuffs?"

"Yes... Sorta." Vasily said as he put the bait on his hook. "Okay. Why do we need the pen again? You going to write down what fish we get?"

"No."

"Keeping a journal?"

"No. Just take off your earmuffs and you might get it in a few minutes."

Vasily nodded and went back to fishing. He listened closely to the world around him until heard it. The "subtle" squealing of treads in the distance.

"Pretend you don't see them."

Turning around, he pretended not to see the Stalin hidden in the snow dunes that had it's main gun aimed right at their direction.

"Good lord!"

"A few freshmen decided that was a good idea for a prank." Marko said as he toyed with his pen. "Here's mine."

Jumping up with his quick reflexes, he aimed the red dot in the general area of the tank.

Before Vasily even knew it, he saw a good portion of the landscape replaced with craters and thanked the fact that he had earmuffs. The explosion rattled both the ground and his teeth.l

"Let that be a lesson for you!" Marko called out as he saw the humiliated tank crew crawl out of the Stalin which had been flipped over and was missing almost all of it's paint. Had it not been for the carbon sheathing, the tank crew and the tank would have probably been erased off the face of the earth.

"I told you guys this wasn't going to end well!" One of the girls whined as she approached the two boys. "If Nonna wouldn't have killed us for this, they probably would have done something like this!"

"You'll need bigger guns if as much as want to come out and play with the big kids." Katyusha said as she emerged out of nowhere. "We were going to say something but... You always have a plan in mind."

"You came to join us?"

"I brought you lunch!" Katyusha said as a truck pulled up. Nonna stepped out carrying two baskets and a disapproving look for the group of girls.

"Clean this mess up." She said firmly.

"We're sorry! Please don't kill us!"

"Unless you want 25 supplementary classes in a classroom without sunlight, then you best hurry up." Nonna said as she put the baskets down.

"What happened to being sent to Siberia for 25 days?" Marko joked.

"That's what I'd want." Katyusha grumbled. "Originally, it was being sent to Siberia for 25 rubles."

"Sounds like a policy we need to implement." Vasily joked as he put butter on the bread. "We get a tour of Pravda after this? I always wanted to see the girl's highschool vs the boy's one."

"Sure... if you can get Marko to promise to carry me."

"Marko..."

"Fine... Why don't we take this?"

Slowly, the Typhoon-class rose out of the water, having been moving up river ever since.


End file.
